On September 6, 1860, pioneering social reformer, sociologist, peace activist, and philosopher Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois. She later described civilization as “a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men”—an ideal that animated her efforts to confront the hardships associated with rapid urbanization, industrialization, and mass immigration in turn-of-the-century America.
In 1889, Addams and Ellen Gates Starr co-founded Hull-House in Chicago, one of North America’s earliest and most influential settlement houses. Located in a working-class immigrant neighborhood, Hull-House offered childcare, educational and cultural programs, health-related assistance, employment help, and community space. It also became an important site for social investigation and for training generations of reformers and social workers.
Addams paired this local work with campaigns for labor reform, women’s rights, democratic participation, and international peace. Her lifelong peace advocacy brought her worldwide recognition: in 1931, she shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nicholas Murray Butler, becoming the first American woman to receive the award.
Image: Jane Addams, 1900, Library of Congress — no known restrictions.
