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Laura Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois on September 06, 1860.

Growing up, Addams suffered from tuberculosis of the spine (Pott disease) which caused her a curved back and crooked walk throughout her early life.  She dealt with this until age 22 when in 1882 her brother-in-law who had recently opened up a medical practice operated on her back to correct the spinal curvature. The operation was successful.

Her mother passed away when she was two and was raised by her father who was a prominent Quaker businessman.

In 1926 she had a heart attack and remained ill for the remainder of her life.

Jane Addams died of cancer at the age of 74 on May 21, 1935.

(History Channel, 2019)
(The U.S. National Park Service, 2012)

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Jane Addams was a social reformer during the Progressive Era of the U.S. who had a substantial influence on the framework of what modern day Social Work is.  Addams was known for her advocacy and philanthropic work with immigrants, women, children, and poverty-stricken people.

Addams was known as "New Woman" during her time which can be better understood with the following, "... the stereotypical American New Woman was college educated and believed in women’s right to work in professions traditionally reserved for men; she often sought a public role in occupations that would putatively improve society" (Rich, 2009).

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In 1931, Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Hull House was in operation until 1963 when it was turned into the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum.

(The U.S. National Park Service, 2012)

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Addams attended Rockford Female Seminary which later became Rockford University which earned her a college degree in 1881.

It was in 1887 when Addams traveled to Europe with a friend to visit Toynbee Hall in London which was the world's first settlement house which inspired her to open a settlement house in America.

In 1889 she established one of the nations first settlement houses later to be known as the Hull House in one of Chicago, Illinois poorest neighborhoods where there was a need for this service.

She supported gender and racial equality and was co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.

Addams was Vice President of the National Woman Suffrage Association from 1911-1914

Addams also supported the founding of the Progressive Party in 1912.

Came out against World War 1 and formed the Women's Peace Party in 1915.

In 1920 Addams was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

(American Civil Liberties Union, 2021)
(History Channel, 2019)
(Rockford University, 2021)

(The U.S. National Park Service, 2012)

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Jane Addams can be seen in the above photo provided by the Library of Congress in The U.S. National Park Service (2012) which you can click on to enlarge.

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Jane Addams is remembered for being one of the United States' greatest humanitarians and her philosophy and views on social reform are still studied today through her vast work in social reform and advocacy with numerous groups.

(The U.S. National Park Service, 2012)

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The Hull House was Addams greatest contributions of work as a social reformer to the profession of Social Work.

The Hull House was a settlement house in the U.S. which was very different to previous social housing through charity in the past. The Hull House differed because unlike past social housing through charity, the residents were not seen as "beneficiaries", rather they were seen more as "neighbors".  Social reformers such as Jane Addams lived among the residents and created a community while also providing social services to immigrants, women, children, and poverty-stricken people who lived at the Hull House.

By the early 1900s, Hull House consisted of 13 buildings and 40 staff members and about 9,000 of the neighborhood's residents participated in a Hull House program within a given week.
(The U.S. National Park Service, 2012)

The video below provided on YouTube by NBC News Learn (2020) gives an overview of Jane Addams and what the Hull House was about.

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The original Hull House building is located at: 800 S. Halsted Street (M/C 051), Chicago IL, 60607-7017 and still stands to this day as the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum which can be seen with the photo below which you can click on to enlarge.
(Hull-House Museum, n.d.).

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Historical Figure Virtual Poster References