Jane Addams (1860-1935)
Hull House
- Born on September 6, 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois as Laura Jane Addams
- She grew up living a privileged life, as her father was a state senator and businessman, and also was friends with President Abraham Lincoln
- Was among the first generations of women in the United States to receive a college education
Hull House
Addams is mainly acclaimed for founding the Chicago social settlement, Hull House, which emerged as the flagship of the Settlement Movement.
• On a trip to London, England, her and Ellen Gates Starr visited the famed Toynbee Hall, a special facility established to help the poor. They were so impressed by the settlement house that they sought to create one in Chicago
• Addams and Starr founded Hull House in 1889, one of the first American settlement houses, in a poor, ethnically diverse, immigrant working-class district of Chicago during the Industrial Revolution
• The house provided services for the immigrant and poor population living in the Chicago area. Hull House offered classes in art, music, drama, sculpture, philosophy, and literature to its immigrant neighbors.
• They founded the first kindergartens and public play grounds in Chicago and the first juvenile court, they worked to undermine the horrors of sweatshops and child labor, they lobbied for shorter working hours for women who were doing back-breaking labor both at home and outside it, and they supported workers’ rights to organize and protest inhumane working conditions.
• Hull House is named after the building’s original owner
Together with other Hull House residents, Addams undertook a number of local, state, national and ultimately international activist projects including garbage collection, adult education, child labor reform, labor union support, women’s suffrage and peace advocacy among others.
• On a trip to London, England, her and Ellen Gates Starr visited the famed Toynbee Hall, a special facility established to help the poor. They were so impressed by the settlement house that they sought to create one in Chicago
• Addams and Starr founded Hull House in 1889, one of the first American settlement houses, in a poor, ethnically diverse, immigrant working-class district of Chicago during the Industrial Revolution
• The house provided services for the immigrant and poor population living in the Chicago area. Hull House offered classes in art, music, drama, sculpture, philosophy, and literature to its immigrant neighbors.
• They founded the first kindergartens and public play grounds in Chicago and the first juvenile court, they worked to undermine the horrors of sweatshops and child labor, they lobbied for shorter working hours for women who were doing back-breaking labor both at home and outside it, and they supported workers’ rights to organize and protest inhumane working conditions.
• Hull House is named after the building’s original owner
Together with other Hull House residents, Addams undertook a number of local, state, national and ultimately international activist projects including garbage collection, adult education, child labor reform, labor union support, women’s suffrage and peace advocacy among others.
Other Accomplishments
• She was a founding member or early supporter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National American Women Suffrage Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
• Addams served as the first female president of the National Conference of Social Work, and established the National Federation of Settlements.
She was the first female awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
• She was a founding member or early supporter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National American Women Suffrage Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
• Addams served as the first female president of the National Conference of Social Work, and established the National Federation of Settlements.
She was the first female awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.