Jane Addams

Jane_Addams

Full Name: Laura Jane Addams
Birth: 6th September 1860
Place of Birth: Illinois, USA
Nationality: American
Job Title: Social worker, founder of the American settlement movement, feminist, civil rights advocate, writer
Partners: Mary Rozet Smith
Died: 21st May 1935, Chicago

This month’s Gay Great was born into a world where poverty was simply accepted as a part of life. Only a few academics had taken a serious look at the issues and possible solutions to deprivation and if any help was given by the upper classes, it was normally at an arm’s length. For this month’s Gay Great, this was not enough.

Laura Jane Addams was born into a small community in Cedarville, Illinois (‘Laura’ seemed to have been dropped in favour of simple ‘Jane Addams’ quite early on). The family were local millers and had made quite a fortune over the years. Some of Addams’ earliest memories were probably of visiting her father’s mill which was built in the 5.5 acres of land that surrounded the house. Her father enjoyed a comfortable life after several years of fighting during the civil war. However the young Jane Addams would have known little of her mother, who died when she was only two years old. Ever the family man, her father remarried soon afterwards giving Addams a stepmother and several stepbrothers and stepsisters.

Addams had been born with a congenial spine defect and was a sickly child. She would remain weak and prone to sickness for the rest of her life. She remained very much a ‘daddy’s girl’ throughout her childhood. Under his influence she was educated to a far greater extent than most young women of the time, although she was still expected to become a mother and housewife. Addams took to education well and was sent to a local boarding school, Rockford Female Seminary, where she met her friend for life, Ellen Gates Starr. Although they were probably not a sexual couple, the pair would remain best of friends and would become important allies later in life.

Addams graduated from Rockford in 1881 and desperately wanted to go on and study medicine. However, her father was keen to see her settle down and thought that ‘wasting time’ at university would put men off. To placate her, he sent her on a grand tour of Europe. The tour helped to keep her mind fresh and she was especially interested to learn about the poverty situation in London. While staying there, she read Andrew Mearn’s famous essay on the subject The Bitter City of Outcast London. She was moved by the strength of the essay, but didn’t yet see how the issue of poverty was anything to do with her.

Sadly Addams had to cut her travelling short when she became ill with back problems again. One her returned to America, she was hit with another blow when her beloved father died. For a year, she was virtually crippled and was deeply depressed. In this dark year, she dwelt much upon her place in the world. Eventually she turned to a surgeon to repair her back and once she was able to get about, she set off again for Europe, and this time took her best friend with her. While back in London, Addams and Starr visited Toynbee Hall. The institution was a new concept called a ‘settlement house’ where students and the well off got the chance to live side by side with the poorest members of the community. What she learnt at Toynbee was interesting, but did not immediately strike her as useful. It was only when she got back to America five years later and saw the depression caused by the panic of 1893 that she realised her calling.

Together with Starr, they searched for a building in which to create her very own settlement house. The result of their work was Hull House, a large building in a deprived area of Chicago. With the settlement movement very trendy among the rich, it wasn’t long before the house was fully staffed with volunteers. One of the wealthy workers to arrive at the door of Hull House was Mary Rozet Smith, the daughter of a paper maker. Addams and Smith were instantly drawn to one another and over the years they became a devoted couple and while at Hull House they shared the only double bed in the whole house!

Smith took on all the domestic roles in the house, so Addams now had even more free time to pursue social causes. Children and education came high on her agenda, possibly because she had such a well structured childhood to look back on. In a move to press for change, she joined the Chicago Board of Education and later took the chair of the School Management Committee. Addams also noticed that many children and young adults who got into trouble were being unfairly treated as adults by the US court system. As a result, Addams become the founder of the Juvenile Court Committee, the country’s first ever juvenile court.

But Addams had also many other irons in the fire. She would often carry out her own investigations into the social problems she was presented with. Life at Hull House had many such issues to look into and Addams researched, wrote and published essays on all sorts of issues like narcotic consumption, midwifery standards, milk supplies and poor sanitary conditions. There was a definite difference between Addams’ work and that of contemporary essayists and speakers – people listened. Unlike much of the research and writing produced, people know that Addams had not seen these issues from afar but lived with them and witnessed them on a daily basis at Hull House. Her diary was soon full of talks and lectures, some of them overseas.

The ongoing work at Hull House also continued. During the second year of operations, two thousand people came through the doors every week seeking help. Addams personally took care of children, fed the hungry, recruited other well-to-do women and convinced rich families to part with their money. As the depression worsened, it became clear Chicago had suffered more than most American cities due to its heavy reliance on the manufacturing industry.

Several settlement houses now existed in Chicago, but Hull House was still the best known. Her work was recognised when in 1910 she became the first women ever to receive an honorary degree from Yale University. She may have missed the chance to study many years ago, but at least she got the degree she so desperately wanted in the end! Two years later she entered the academic arena even further by writing a book about the experiences and lessons learnt in Chicago. Twenty Years and Hull House sold well and encouraged similar headstrong women to take up the cause and help those less fortunate.

Addams was a textbook workaholic. She found it hard to turn down an invitation to join a cause close to her heart. Feminism and suffrage were high on her agenda but instead of simply fighting for the vote, Addams tried to inspire women to make their voice heard and push forward legislation through protest and action. When it looked as though the world was heading for war, she formed the Women’s Peace Party and the International Congress of Women. Addams became a loud and clear voice against America entering the war. She spoke at many rallies and events, always insisting war was not necessary and that the American government should stay out of it. Still suffering as a result of the depression, many everyday Americans agreed with her.

But the press certainly did not. Addams’ name became regarded as a traitor, non-conformist and radical. She was excluded from Daughters of the American Revolution, an organisation set up to preserve and celebrate the history and lineage of America. Many of the upper class families she had grown up with refused to talk to her. Luckily however, the truth about her ‘Boston Marriage’ to Smith remained a closely guarded secret in public life. It seemed that for many on the outside, the fact that two women were close enough to share a bed was no cause for suspicion at all. Only a select few knew the truth and it became clear that after Addams’ death, Smith made a point of burning many of the tender letters which passed between them over the years. Only a few were left to explain the true depth of feeling between them.

After the war, yet another issue moved Addams into action. Black Americans were beginning to demand fair treatment. Opposed as she was to suffering and prejudice, Addams joined the cause. She became a founding member of The American Civil Liberties Union and was also a leading light in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. As an upper class white woman, her voice was extremely valuable to the cause and she fought hard towards a change in the attitude of white Americans.

By the start of the 1930s, Addams health had started to fail. She had suffered a heart attack in 1926 from which she found it hard to recover. Her general health was certainly in decline. But despite her failing body, there was still one amazing landmark left in her life. In 1931 she became the first American woman ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her work as the President of the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom. Sadly she was admitted to hospital the day of the ceremony and unable to attend, but was still happy to receive arguably the highest accolade in her chosen field.

Addams’ health continued to decline and after an explorative operation in 1936 it was revealed she had been carrying around a large cancerous growth. She died three days after the operation. However the work at Hull House continued for many years and today it stands as a monument to her life and legacy. Fittingly, her funeral took place in the front courtyard of Hull House.

Jane Addams has long been cited as the first ever social worker. Although there were many other philanthropists at the time, it was Addams who was respected as the ultimate authority on matters of poverty. Her word held weight because unlike most of her contemporaries, she chose to live shoulder to shoulder with poverty, to invite it into her home and surround herself by it. Addams was the first to recognise that it wasn’t enough to fight poverty from a distance with money. At some point, you needed to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in!

Jane_Addams

By the start of the 1930s, Addams health had started to fail. She had suffered a heart attack in 1926 from which she found it hard to recover. Her general health was certainly in decline. But despite her failing body, there was still one amazing landmark left in her life. In 1931 she became the first American woman ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her work as the President of the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom. Sadly she was admitted to hospital the day of the ceremony and unable to attend, but was still happy to receive arguably the highest accolade in her chosen field.
Addams’ health continued to decline and after an explorative operation in 1936 it was revealed she had been carrying around a large cancerous growth. She died three days after the operation. However the work at Hull House continued for many years and today it stands as a monument to her life and legacy. Fittingly, her funeral took place in the front courtyard of Hull House.
Jane Addams has long been cited as the first ever social worker. Although there were many other philanthropists at the time, it was Addams who was respected as the ultimate authority on matters of poverty. Her word held weight because unlike most of her contemporaries, she chose to live shoulder to shoulder with poverty, to invite it into her home and surround herself by it. Addams was the first to recognise that it wasn’t enough to fight poverty from a distance with money. At some point, you needed to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in!