Jane Addams and her impact on society

Essay by SuperA17University, Bachelor's June 2002

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JANE ADDAMS

Jane Addams is known for Hull House, located in Chicago, IL. While this isn't her only contribution to society during her life, this is the one contribution that has probably made the biggest impact on society. Jane became interested in social issues when she went on a trip to England with two college friends. She was exposed to the poverty that was all around England's East End. Also, while she was in England, her and her friends came across Toynbee Hall, which was a settlement house that was used by students from Oxford and Cambridge to teach workingmen. After returning to Chicago, Jane and her friend, Ellen Gates Starr, decided to start looking into the possibilities of starting a settlement house in the run-down streets of Chicago. When they finally decided on a house, it was named the Hull House.

Jane Addams also was concerned with the issues of establishing a juvenile court system and women's suffrage.

She was also involved with the peace movement by becoming an important advocate of internationalism. She became interested in the peace movement during World War I by participating in the International Congress of Women. She was very opposed to World War II, and worked through the Women's Peace Party, which later became the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She was the WILPF's first president. Because of her work as the president of this organization, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. The main reason that she backed women's suffrage was because she believed that the women's votes would provide the margin necessary to pass the social legislations that she was in favor of. Because of her hard work, the Progressive party adopted a lot of her ideas to their platform in 1912, along with establishing...