Jane Addams

For other people with similar names, see Jane Adams.

Jane Addams
Addams c. 1926
Born
Laura Jane Addams

(1860-09-06)September 6, 1860
Cedarville, Illinois, U.S.
DiedMay 21, 1935(1935-05-21) (aged 74)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EducationRockford Female Seminary
Occupations
  • Social worker and political activist
  • author and lecturer
  • community organizer
  • public intellectual
FatherJohn H. Addams
Relatives
AwardsNobel Peace Prize (1931)
Signature
Portrait of Jane Addams, from a charcoal drawing in 1892 by Alice Kellogg Tyler. Source: Addams: Twenty Years at Hull House (1910), p. 114

Laura Jane Addams[1] (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker,[2][3] sociologist,[4] public administrator,[5][6] philosopher,[7][8] and author. She was a leader in the history of social work and Women's suffrage.[9] In 1889, Addams co-founded Hull House, one of America's most famous settlement houses, in Chicago, Illinois, providing extensive social services to poor, largely immigrant families. Philosophically a "radical pragmatist", she was arguably the first woman public philosopher in the United States.[10] In the Progressive Era, when even presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson identified themselves as reformers and might be seen as social activists, Addams was one of the most prominent reformers.[11]

An advocate for world peace, and recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States, in 1931 Addams became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[12] Earlier, Addams was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from Yale University in 1910, becoming the first woman to receive an honorary degree from the school.[13] In 1920, she was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).[14]

Addams helped America address and focus on issues that were of concern to mothers or extensions of the domestic-work assigned to women, such as the needs of children, local public health, and world peace. In her essay "Utilization of Women in City Government", Addams noted the connection between the workings of government and the household, stating that many departments of government, such as sanitation and the schooling of children, could be traced back to traditional women's roles in the private sphere.[15][16] When she died in 1935, Addams was the best-known female public figure in the United States.[17]

  1. ^ "Jane Addams". The Nobel Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Institute. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  2. ^ Chambers, Clarke A. (March 1986). "Women in the Creation of the Profession of Social Work". Social Service Review. 60 (1). University of Chicago Press: 1–33. doi:10.1086/644347. JSTOR 30011832. S2CID 143895472.
  3. ^ Franklin, Donna L. (June 1986). "Mary Richmond and Jane Addams: From Moral Certainty to Rational Inquiry in Social Work Practice". Social Service Review. 60 (4). University of Chicago Press: 504–525. doi:10.1086/644396. JSTOR 30012363. S2CID 144585123.
  4. ^ Deegan, M. J. (1988). Jane Addams and the Men of the Chicago School, 1892–1918. New Brunswick, NJ, USA: Transaction Books. ISBN 0887388302
  5. ^ Shields, Patricia M. (2017). "Jane Addams: Pioneer in American Sociology, Social Work and Public Administration". In: P. Shields Editor, Jane Addams: Progressive Pioneer of Peace, Philosophy, Sociology, Social Work and Public Administration. pp. 43–68. ISBN 978-3-319-50646-3.
  6. ^ Stivers, C. (2009). "A Civic Machinery for Democratic Expression: Jane Addams on Public Administration". In M. Fischer, C. Nackenoff, & W. Chielewski, Jane Addams and the Practice of Democracy (pp. 87–97). Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0252076121
  7. ^ Shields, Patricia M., Maurice Hamington, and Joseph Soeters (eds.) (2023). The Oxford Handbook of Jane Addams. Oxford Academic. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197544518.001.0001. ISBN 9780197544532
  8. ^ Ralston, Shane (2023). "Jane Addams and John Dewey", in Patricia M. Shields, Maurice Hamington, and Joseph Soeters (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jane Addams. pp. 169-186. Oxford Academic. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197544518.013.34. ISBN 9780197544532
  9. ^ Shields, Patricia M. (2017). Jane Addams: Peace Activist and Peace Theorist In, P. Shields Editor, Jane Addams: Progressive Pioneer of Peace, Philosophy, Sociology, Social Work and Public Administration pp. 31–42. ISBN 978-3-319-50646-3
  10. ^ Maurice Hamington, "Jane Addams" in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2010) portrays her as a radical pragmatist and the first woman "public philosopher" in United States history.
  11. ^ John M. Murrin, Paul E. Johnson, and James M. McPherson, Liberty, Equality, Power (2008) p. 538; Eyal J. Naveh, Crown of Thorns (1992) p. 122
  12. ^ Stuart, Paul H. (2013). "Social Work Profession: History". Encyclopedia of Social Work. Oxford University Press and the National Association of Social Workers Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.623. ISBN 978-0-19-997583-9.
  13. ^ "Women of honor". yalealumnimagazine.org.
  14. ^ "Celebrating Women's History Month: The Fight for Women's Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU". ACLU Virginia. March 28, 2013.
  15. ^ Jane Addams, "Utilization of Women in City Government," Chapter 7 Newer Ideals of Peace (1907) pp. 180–208.
  16. ^ "Jane Addams on Women in Government". sageamericanhistory.net. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).