Jane Addams was born in Illinois. She was the youngest of six children. Her mother died of tuberculosis when Jane was two. Her father remarried when Jane was eight. Her father wanted her to get more education, but he still wanted her to be the tipical "house wife". She was educated in Europe and the U.S. After her fathers death she recieved $50,000. In 1885 she went on a two year tour of Europe with her stepmom. She recieved spinal surgery when she got back from Europe. After her surgery she went back to Europe with her friend Ellen Starr and a teacher friend. While she was in Europe she visited the Toynbee Hall and that was her inspiration for the Hull House.She was close friends with a lot of women and was good at getting them to work at the Hull House. Her closest friend was Ellen Starr and she also worked at the Hull House. They owned a house together in Maine. Jane was raised a Quaker but she later became a Presbyterian.
In 1889 her best friend, Ellen Gates, co-founded the Hull House in Illinois. It was the first settlement house in the United States. The house was named after Charles Hull. He built the building in 1856. All of the funding for the house was provided by the $50,000 Jane recieved from her dad. After that money ran out the funding came form Helen Culver who was a wealthy real estate agent. Jane and Ellen were the first people to stay in the house. Later there were about 25 women staying there. The Hull House was visited by like 2000 people every week.It had a night school for adults, a kindergarten class, clubs for older kids, a kitchen, an art place, a girls club, and a drama club. It also had a few other things. Her night school was kind of like a college. Because of the larger immigration issue the house provided a place for young social workers to train. Eventually the house became 13 buildings.
Jane recieved a lot of bad remarks during World War I, but she still worked very hard at the Hull House. She had time to work on peace efforts. She would speek and campaign for Theodore Roosevelt's presidential campaign. Jane was elected the Women's Internaitonal League for Peace and Freedom president. This meant she had to travel to Europe and Asia a lot. Her speaches were getting negative ratings in the newspapers. It was hard for her. When she traveled she met with a lot of women and tried to keep the peace thing going.She recieved the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. She was the first U.S. woman to get the prize. She died in 1935. The Hull House and the Peace Movement is what she is most famous for. Her tried most of her life to help individual women. She was put on a postage stamp in 1940. The Hull House let Jane become friends with many women. A quote was mounted on a wall that Jane said.I think she had a huge impact on the United States. She showed people how to help others and get along. With the peace movement she showed the we all just need to get along and everything will be ok.
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