Jane Addams and the Settlement House Movement

Background

• Jane Addams
  • Soft-spoken, from a prosperous family
  • Grew up in rural Illinois; mother died when she was two
  • Raised by her father, a businessman with strong Quaker values
  • Part of the "new women" of the 1860s and 70s: college-educated without clear career paths

Founding of Hull House

• Established in 1889
  • Nation's first settlement house in a poor Chicago neighborhood
  • Acquired a decaying mansion, Hull House, in a predominantly poor immigrant area

Settlement House Philosophy

• Departure from Traditional Philanthropy
  • Not charity, but "neighboring with the poor"
  • Workers lived in the neighborhoods they helped
  • Slogan: "neighboring with the poor"
  • Aimed to integrate with communities rather than dictate to them

Services Provided

• Social and Cultural Services
  • Taught English, provided childcare, counseled immigrants
  • Hull House offered: art gallery, coffee house, gym, public kitchen, and a music school

Political Activism

• Advocacy for Social Change
  • Realized services needed supplementing with activism
  • Worked to improve education and workplace conditions
  • In 1893, helped pass law protecting sweatshop workers and banning child labor in Illinois

Impact and Legacy

• Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
  • Awarded in 1931 for her reform work
• Inspiration for Others
  • Inspired other middle-class, college-educated women
  • Hundreds of settlement houses founded across the U.S.
• Foundation for Social Work
  • Work laid the groundwork for professional Social Work in the U.S.