Jane Addams

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses Jane Addams, who was a pioneer in social work, an active opponent of war and a driver of reforms in politics and education during the last quarter of the nineteenth and first quarter of the twentieth centuries. However, as the writer points out, many of the social problems she fought so fiercely to overcome, still exist. In this paper, the writer revisits Jane Addams' personal background, ideals, writings and achievements, that furnishes insight into why her activism might be of value at the start of the twenty-first century in dealing with some of today's most serious societal ills.

From the Paper:

"Cimbala and Miller, in 'Against the Tide: Women Reformers in American Society', emphasize the influence that Jane Addams' father and mother had on her life. Her mother, although only alive for the first several years of Addams' life, exhibited kindness and generosity toward the poor thereby serving as a role model. Addams' father, according to these authors, was "a wealthy landowner, miller, banker, investor and state legislator," a man possessing "moral rectitude and civic-mindedness". Upon his death, he left Addams' with a substantial inheritance accompanied by an intense desire to change the world for the better, although her desire was tempered by a perception of expectations of her that constrained her from taking action. Her studies of Tolstoy, Marx, Emerson, and others helped to formulate her commitment to work for the benefit of the poor and suffering."

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