Jane Addams

B. September 6, 1860 – D. May 21, 1935

"the good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain, is floating in mid-air, until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life."

Jane Addams was a founder of the U.S. Settlement House movement, and one of the first women to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She was a leading figure in the Progressive era. Born into wealth and tempered by tragedy (three of her siblings died in infancy and her mother died from tuberculosis during pregnancy when Jane was just two years old.) Jane used her considerable empathy and skills to exert her influence on a world where a thirst for leaders offered opportunity and a willing public.

Jane's father, John H. Addams, was the President of The Second National Bank of Freeport, Senator from Illinois (1854 to 1870), and a founding member of the Republican Party and supporter Abraham Lincoln.

Unlike the Republican party of today, the Republican party's roots were not only progressive (liberal) but they were the "home" for a major force of activists in the early 20th century, engaged on nearly every progressive front including the peace movement, the social welfare movement and early years of activism advocating environmental protection.

Known as one of the founders of the Social Science movement, Addams' research and activism deeply influenced the professional and the disciplines encompassed by the rapidly growing movement in its early years and for years beyond her death in 1935.

Wikipedia Biography


Readings:
Public Activities and Investigations
Twenty Years at Hull House (Book)
The Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements

"Longview Flowers"

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