- Born
- 6 September 1860Cedarville, Illinois, USA
- Died
- 21 May 1935Chicago, USA · aged 74
Jane Addams
A social reformer whose work for immigrant communities grew into an international campaign for peace.
Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois, in 1860. A college education and travel helped her search for work that could connect personal purpose with social change. In 1889 she and Ellen Gates Starr opened Hull House in Chicago.
The settlement offered education, childcare, cultural activities and practical support in an immigrant neighbourhood. Its work also produced evidence for campaigns against child labour and for better housing, public health and working conditions. Addams linked direct assistance with the demand to change the conditions that made it necessary.
Mary Rozet Smith, a major supporter of Hull House, became her partner for more than thirty-five years. Their letters document affection, shared decisions and the strain of separation. The relationship belonged to a history of committed partnerships between women that could offer a life outside conventional marriage.
Addams’s opposition to the First World War made her a target of public hostility. She nevertheless continued organising for peace and disarmament. In 1931 she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She died in Chicago in 1935, aged 74.