Episode 23: Jane Addams
Laura Jane Addams was born on September 6, 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois. Jane from a very young age wanted to help those who had less and she planned to become a doctor to help society and even attended medical school for a time; however, Jane’s poor health put a stop to her plans. She had severe scoliosis which she was lucky enough to have surgery to remedy, but it did cause her to leave medical school and reconsider how she could help those who were less fortunate. In 1887, Jane traveled to Europe in order to visit Toynbee Hall in London’s East End. Toynbee Hall was the first settlement house, which was a house where wealthy and poor residents would live together and work to better the surrounding neighborhood and community. Jane returned to Chicago and opened the first US settlement house, Hull House with her then girlfriend Ellen Gates Starr. Hull House was in an industrial neighborhood of Chicago where many European immigrants who worked in factories lived. Over time the settlement house provided education for all levels, daycare, fine arts classes, an employment bureau, and many other amenities for the community as they bought more surrounding real estate. Hull House was visited by around 2,000 people each week. This settlement house became the precursor for community centers. In addition to providing services to the community, Jane and the Hull House residents also were able to research and study various aspects of the community they were part of including overcrowding, infant mortality, sanitary conditions among others. Through this data they were able to lobby for legislative changes both at a city and eventually even a federal level such as the Juvenile Protective Association, the Immigrant’s Protective League, and the Federal Children’s Bureau. Jane started a relationship with fellow Hull House supporter and philanthropist Mary Rozet Smith that lasted 40 years. Jane considered them to be married, and they wrote to each other every day if they were apart.
Jane wrote many articles and spoke to raise money for the work they were doing at Hull House in addition to those whose voices weren’t being heard. She was also active in the women’s suffrage movement and was a co-founder of the NAACP and the ACLU. Jane’s work at Hull House was also noticed by the University of Chicago and the emerging Sociology Department and would eventually lead to the profession of Social Work. Jane was also a very outspoken pacifist and was vehemently against WWI. She spoke many times on the matter and was able to provide humanitarian aid to the women and children of enemy nations during the war. She also served as president of the Women’s International League for Peace until 1929. In 1931, Jane was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first American woman to win the award and the second woman ever to win. Sadly she could not attend the ceremony due to poor health. In 1935, Jane had surgery and they discovered she had cancer. She died three days after the surgery at the age of 74.
Caryatid: Toni Griffin
Toni Griffin is a Chicago native who founded Urban American City, urbanAC in New York City. The company is a planning and design management practice that partners with public, private, and nonprofit groups to create urban justice through design and inclusive collaborations in order to address historic and current disparities involving race, class, and generation. They do this through the Just City Index that Toni developed as a way to highlight what challenges different cities struggle with and what the community would like to see change.
References
“About Jane Addams.” Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, www.hullhousemuseum.org/about-jane-addams. Accessed 6 Mar. 2021.
American Experience. “Jane Addams (1860–1935).” American Experience | PBS, 3 May 2019, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/chicago-jane-addams-1860-1935.
Blander, Akiva. “Planning For (In)Justice: Toni Griffin’s Mission to Foster Equitable Cities.” Metropolis, 9 Oct. 2019, www.metropolismag.com/cities/toni-griffin-just-city-lab.
“Jane Addams & Hull House.” Jane Addams & Hull-House, www.teachspace.org/personal/research/addams/index.html. Accessed 1 Mar. 2021.
Jane Addams – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2021. Mon. 1 Mar 2021. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1931/addams/biographical/>
Michals, Debra, PhD. “Jane Addams.” National Women’s History Museum, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/jane-addams. Accessed 5 Mar. 2021.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Hull House | History, Significance, Jane Addams, & Museum.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/Hull-House. Accessed 6 Mar. 2021.
---. “Jane Addams | Biography, Accomplishments, Significance, Hull House, Books, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Jane-Addams. Accessed 6 Mar. 2021.
---. “Social Settlement | Definition, History, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/social-settlement. Accessed 6 Mar. 2021.
“UrbanAC [URBAN AMERICAN CITY] Toni L. Griffin.” UrbanAC, urbanac.city. Accessed 15 Mar. 2021.
Wikipedia contributors. “Hull House.” Wikipedia, 30 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_House.
---. “Jane Addams.” Wikipedia, 31 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Addams.
