John Dewey's friend and inspiration...
Today is the birthday of social reformer and peace activist Jane Addams, born in Cedarville, Illinois (1860). When she was in her 20s, she and her friend Ellen Gates Starr took the Grand Tour of Europe, an excursion that was popular for young people at the time, in which they traveled widely before choosing marriage or school. Addams had already graduated from the Rockford Female Seminary in 1881, but she also suffered depression, and physical pain related to a childhood disability, and she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do.
Addams and Gates toured the social settlements in London, which were housing units dedicated to assisting the large influx of immigrants to the city. The social settlements were created as a response to issues created by poverty, education, and urbanization. While in London, Addams visited a vegetable market and was appalled at the sight of vendors throwing bread and food in the air as a sport for paupers. The paupers clawed and scraped for tiny morsels of food. Addams was struck by how inhumanely the poor were treated. She and Gates vowed to do something when they returned to Chicago. She said, "We have all accepted bread from someone, at least until we were fourteen." For the rest of her life, she never forgot the sight of the paupers in London, their hands raised desperately in the air for food. Even watching dance performances and doing calisthenics reminded her of their desperation.
Addams lived in Chicago's 19th Ward, which was populated mostly by immigrants from Poland, Mexico, Greece, Russia, and Bohemia. She was alarmed by the number of women who were forced to leave their children at home to go to work. Some of them even tied their children to chairs to keep them safe. She and Gates raised money from other wealthy women, and found a large mansion in need of repair. They named it Hull-House, and within two years, they were serving 2,000 residents a week.
Hull-House held classes in cooking, English language, and citizenship, and even operated a day care, library, art gallery, and a kindergarten. Addams was a firm believer that education could lift children from dire circumstances. She said: "America's future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live."
Addams was a prolific and ardent supporter of peace, cofounding The Women's Peace Party and serving as the first president. She was so committed to change within the city of Chicago that she took a post as the garbage inspector for the 19th Ward at a salary of $1,000 a year. She was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Yale University, and she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
Jane Addams lived at Hull-House until her death in 1935. She once said: "I am not one of those who believe — broadly speaking — that women are better than men. We have not wrecked railroads, nor corrupted legislatures, nor done many unholy things that men have done; but then we must remember that we have not had the chance."
Her books include Peace and Bread in Time of War (1922) and 20 Years at Hull-House (1910).
https://open.substack.com/pub/thewritersalmanac/p/twa-from-wednesday-september-6-2017?r=35ogp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Addams and Gates toured the social settlements in London, which were housing units dedicated to assisting the large influx of immigrants to the city. The social settlements were created as a response to issues created by poverty, education, and urbanization. While in London, Addams visited a vegetable market and was appalled at the sight of vendors throwing bread and food in the air as a sport for paupers. The paupers clawed and scraped for tiny morsels of food. Addams was struck by how inhumanely the poor were treated. She and Gates vowed to do something when they returned to Chicago. She said, "We have all accepted bread from someone, at least until we were fourteen." For the rest of her life, she never forgot the sight of the paupers in London, their hands raised desperately in the air for food. Even watching dance performances and doing calisthenics reminded her of their desperation.
Addams lived in Chicago's 19th Ward, which was populated mostly by immigrants from Poland, Mexico, Greece, Russia, and Bohemia. She was alarmed by the number of women who were forced to leave their children at home to go to work. Some of them even tied their children to chairs to keep them safe. She and Gates raised money from other wealthy women, and found a large mansion in need of repair. They named it Hull-House, and within two years, they were serving 2,000 residents a week.
Hull-House held classes in cooking, English language, and citizenship, and even operated a day care, library, art gallery, and a kindergarten. Addams was a firm believer that education could lift children from dire circumstances. She said: "America's future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live."
Addams was a prolific and ardent supporter of peace, cofounding The Women's Peace Party and serving as the first president. She was so committed to change within the city of Chicago that she took a post as the garbage inspector for the 19th Ward at a salary of $1,000 a year. She was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Yale University, and she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
Jane Addams lived at Hull-House until her death in 1935. She once said: "I am not one of those who believe — broadly speaking — that women are better than men. We have not wrecked railroads, nor corrupted legislatures, nor done many unholy things that men have done; but then we must remember that we have not had the chance."
Her books include Peace and Bread in Time of War (1922) and 20 Years at Hull-House (1910).
https://open.substack.com/pub/thewritersalmanac/p/twa-from-wednesday-september-6-2017?r=35ogp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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