Approximately 88,324 people were born on September 6th, 1860. However, arguably the most prominent of these births was that of Jane Addams. Addams was born in Cedarville, IL into a wealthy family consisting of her parents and 9 siblings. From a young age, Addams naturally drifted towards the idea of helping others. While touring towns in poverty with her senator father, she would often ask what she could do to help. This urge only began to increase after she started to go through her own tragedies with the deaths of her mother and 5 siblings as well as her struggles with various health problems that severely impacted her quality of life.
Unlike many of the women in her time, Addams’s family was able to afford to send her to college and she graduated in the top of her class with a bachelor's degree from Rockford College for Women. She then began studying medicine but unfortunately was forced to drop out due to her declining health. Later on, at the age of 27, Jane Addams went on a lengthy tour around Europe with her good friend Ellen G. Starr. During this time she happened to stumble upon Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London's Upper east end. Settlement houses are institutions that provide educational, recreational, and other social services to a community. Upon seeing how much Toynbee Hall was helping others, Addams promptly went back to Chicago, IL where she and Ellen G. Starr opened the Hull House, which served as a settlement house that specialized in helping immigrants, women, and those in severe poverty.
During her time, Addams became the first female to ever win a Nobel Peace Prize and the president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She was even once declared one of the ‘most dangerous women in America’ by the FBI because of her efforts to help the world avoid World War I and the numerous attempts she made to help improve working conditions for factory workers. Jane Addams was an advocate for immigrants, the poor, children, and women. She also helped promote the idea of world peace. Despite all of Jane Addams’s early tragedies, she made a triumphant comeback through her consistent work to better the Chicago community including the successful opening of the Hull House in 1886.
Early Life
Jane Addams’s life was sprinkled with tragedies, most of which took place within her younger years. The effects of these tragedies carried on to her later life and were the main reason Addams started social reforming.
When Addams was young, she faced more tragedies than most will in their entire lifetime. As a young child, her life was consumed by grief and loss. Her mother, Sarah Weber Addams, passed away while giving birth to her ninth child, who was stillborn due to prematurity. Addams was only a toddler at the time. In addition to her sibling that was stillborn, three of her siblings passed away as infants and another at the age of sixteen. By the time she reached eight years of age, only four of her nine siblings were still alive. Before the age of ten, Addams had already attended six funerals, one for her mother and five for her siblings. Witnessing the deaths of their immediate family members is something that the average person won’t have to experience until much later in their lives. Addams was also burdened with health conditions her entire life. “At age four she developed Tuberculosis of the spine, later this illness caused her to stop studying at college and undergo spinal operations.” (“Childhood and Family – Jane Addams ”) By overcoming such significant tribulations at such a young age, Addams proved that she had a huge amount of strength. Later on in her life, she channeled the emotional backlash from these events into her work as a social reformer.
Also due to her mother's early death, Jane Addams lived most of her life without a maternal figure, a support system many children have, “Her mother Sarah Weber Addams was a strong woman and "stern disciplinarian" of her eight children. She ran the "domestic factor" with the help of a hired hand, which enabled her to prepare meals for flour, saw mill and field workers. She took charge of the mills when her husband was away and often helped the neighbors. When Jane Addams was only three her mother became very ill and died. Martha, the eldest, took over in raising the family.” (Nicole Bettis) These tragedies did however enable her to relate to some of the people she was helping at Hull House. In addition to this, her past experiences with trauma allowed her to properly assist those going through similar situations. Her ability to relate to her ‘clients’ ultimately became one of the main reasons she had so much success in her work life.
Beyond being plagued by mental struggles throughout her childhood Addams also faced physical ones. Numerous back problems followed Addams throughout her life, however, just like the various calamities that affected her as a young girl, having this experience allowed her to help anyone with physical disabilities deal with the repercussions, “She suffered from numerous ailments throughout her lifetime, and they limited what she could do. Her idleness depressed her; she wanted to be useful and to have a greater purpose in life.” (Ann Kitchen) When so many mental burdens are placed on a person the last thing one needs is a physical issue, for Addams this resulted in worsening depression, low self confidence, and a strong sense of failure. However, Addams’s hardships extended her ability to help and relate to people. She developed the ‘training’ and experience needed to relate to those who were suffering from the mental toll a physical disability takes on a person, this allowed her to open services to help any struggling individuals at Hull House.
Addams’s Discovery of Social Reform
Jane Addams always worked to improve wherever she was. Her interest in assisting others started from a young age and was carried throughout her adulthood.
Addams always was willing to find time to help people, “While Addams was a child, she spent most of her time reading books, or playing outside, and was often at Sunday school. As a teenager, Jane Addams dreamed of creating something, or, having a great impact on the world. She wanted to help people in a way no one ever had before.” (“Childhood and Family – Jane Addams ”). Throughout childhood, Addams aspired to be of service to others, she then was able to channel this throughout her early life, helping her pave her way towards opening Hull House. Addams’s childhood set her up to be the successful and influential social reformer she was.
Addams’s yearning to help others only increased as she got older, she began to form her own opinions on how to help others and who could do this whenever she couldn’t, “Addams believed in an individual's obligation to help his or her community, but she also thought the government could help make Americans’ lives safer and healthier.” (“The Good Work of Jane Addams ”). Addams’s core values are shown here, it shows exactly how much she believed it was an obligation of hers to support her community and where she couldn’t she found others who had more influence and able to make necessary changes. Addams without knowing it, was beginning to show the signs of a dedicated social reformer.
Before Addams had opened Hull House her passion for helping others had already led her to the idea of opening a establishment that could be used by others as a safety net, “At the age of twenty-seven, during a second tour to Europe with her friend Ellen G. Starr, she visited a settlement house, Toynbee Hall, in London’s East End. This visit helped to finalize the idea then current in her mind, that of opening a similar house in an underprivileged area of Chicago.” (“Jane Addams – Biographical”). Addams knew that she wanted to make a difference and upon seeing Toynbee Hall she made the decision to put her idea into action. This way Addams was able to successfully make a difference. Hull House helped citizens of Chicago by providing them with free educational services and social opportunities as well as providing assistance to young women, the poor, and children.
The Impact of Hull House
The many successes of the Hull House opening has made it the reason Hull House is used as a model for settlement houses globally. Thousands had been able to rely on Hull House.
Hull House was very successful from the start and people worked hard to achieve what Jane Addams had, “Although Hull House was not the first settlement house, it became a model for virtually all others that followed… Hull house was designed to specialize in assisting immigrants, who were among Chicago's neediest residents.” (“Hull House”). In times of struggle people were able to go to Hull House for assistance and the huge impact that it had on the community made people who wanted to help others and open their own settlement houses copy Jane Addams in an attempt to replicate the success she had in helping others.
Beyond just being a model for other institutions Hull House became a respected and well-known establishment with a rather large support group, “Jane Addams founded a social establishment called Hull House which supported thousands of people, mainly immigrants, the poor, and the disposed. Hull House became a model for similar communities in the future.” (“The Good Work of Jane Addams ”). Hull House’s vast resources and ability to help so many individuals was incredible, people were inspired by the major accomplishments Hull House had made. Hundreds of social activist worked to duplicate Addams’s success in order to create something similar to Hull House. In addition to this, already existing settlement houses took strides towards reaching the standards that Hull House had set and attempted to help just as many if not more people than Hull House.
When Hull House closed it was a huge controversy in the city of Chicago, many tried to find ways to replace it or keep it open, “We are proposing that the city engage 1,000 recent college graduates to establish ‘Innovation Houses’ in underserved neighborhoods across the city. These would be community residences inspired by the early settlement houses.” (Tom Tresser). In the 21st century people are still trying to copy Addams’s Hull House because of the magnitude of the impact it had on individuals and the community. Still today it can be argued that the Hull House was the most successful settlement house of all time with it’s vast number of programs and how many were able to use Hull House as a tool in their own personal growth.
Throughout her life, Jane Addams ignited a flame in the young people and the women of her generation that inspired them to aid others in anyway they possibly could. With the opening of Hull House, thousands were educated, assisted in their times of need, and hundreds were employed (primarily women). Today we are able to recognize and appreciate Addams for starting the movement that revolves around caring for others. She changed the stigma surrounding social work and is part of the reason thousands of people have chosen that as a career today. Without Addams, millions of people would be without the necessary services that help them survive. Through her legacy Addams has helped people overcome their greatest challenges by teaching others to care for each other.