Professor Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn
Monday December 19, 2011
Married John Huey Addams in
1844 in Pennsylvania
Moved to Illinois
Gave birth to 8 children (4
survived to adulthood)
Jane was the youngest
Sarah died during her ninth
pregnancy in 1862
Married Sarah Weber in 1844
Successful businessman (mill
owner, railroad executive, bank
president)
Helped found Illinois Republican
Party
Illinois State Senator, 1854-1870
Known for his integrity
Friend & supporter of Abraham
Lincoln
Married Anna Haldeman in 1868
Died of appendicitis in 1881
Left Jane $50,000 (over $1 million
today)
Graduated from Rockford
Female Seminary in 1881
After her father’s death, she
attended the Women’s
Medical College in
Philadelphia
Dropped out for health
reasons
Was baptized a Christian in
1886
Travelled to Europe in the
1880s
First settlement house in
the U.S., founded in 1889
Built by John Hull at 800
South Halsted Street
Jane Addams paid for
much of the capital
expenses and operating
costs
Many wealthy women
became longtime donors
Became a 13 building
complex with playground
and summer camp
“Aid in the solutions of life in a great city, to help our
neighbors build responsible, self-sufficient lives for
themselves and their families.”
“To provide a center for a higher civic and social life; to
institute and maintain educational and philanthropic
enterprises, and to investigate and improve the
conditions in the industrial districts of Chicago.”
 Teach by example
 Practice cooperation
 Practice social democracy
 night school for
adults
 kindergarten classes
 clubs for older
children
 a public kitchen
 an art gallery
 a coffeehouse
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a gym
a girls' club
a bathhouse
a book bindery
a music school
a drama group
a library
Hull House became a world center for social
reform activity
Became involved in city-wide and state-wide
campaigns for:
 better housing
 improvements in public welfare
 stricter child-labor laws
 protection of working women
Addams helped found the Progressive Party
Backed Theodore Roosevelt for President in 1912
Addams was criticized for her pacifist views
In 1915 was elected president of the Women’s
International League of Freedom and Peace
Spoke and wrote on behalf of the League of
Nations
Was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, the
first U.S. woman to be honored

influenced legislation on child labor laws, occupational safety and health
provisions, compulsory education, immigrant rights, and pension laws

Chicago’s first public playground, bathhouse, and public gymnasium

investigated housing, working, and sanitation issues

the first juvenile court in the United States

influence on urban planning and the transition to a branch library system

champion of national child labor laws, women’s suffrage, children’s bureau,
unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, and other reforms

Charter member of the NAACP, early founder/supporter of the ACLU

Pacifist movement and support of League of Nations

Over 5,000 settlement houses nationally by 1920
Hull House was moved in 1963 to make way for the Chicago
campus of the University of Illinois
The Hull House Museum was relocated on campus
http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/hull/hull_house.html
Designated a U.S. Historic landmark in 1965
Photograph by Wallace Kirkland
http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/hull/hull_house.html
http://www.hullhouse.org/aboutus/history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Addams