Jane Addams
In 1889, with Ellen Gates Starr, Jane Addams founded Hull House in Chicago, one of the nation’s first settlement houses. It served as a community center for the poor and its success helped lead to the creation of hundreds of similar organizations in communities across the country. An active reformer throughout her career, Jane Addams was a leader in the women’s suffrage and pacifist movements. She was the first American woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Read more on Jane Addams.
Social issues Jane Addams addressed:
- Immigrant homelessness, medical care, daycare, education, citizenship preparation
- Voting rights for women
- Education
- Peace
Social issues that need to be addressed today:
- Homelessness – As many as 3.5 million people experience homelessness in a given year in America – 1.35 million of them children.*
- Voting – 64 percent of voting-age citizens voted in the 2008 presidential elections.**
- Education – 41 percent of fourth-grade boys and 35 percent of fourth-grade girls read below the basic level – in low-income neighborhoods it is near 70 percent – lack of books affects literacy.***
- Peace – Peace is needed in many communities and countries around the world – kids have an innate ability to promote peace.****
* National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2007, http://www.kidsforpeaceusa.org/index.htm
** http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p20-562.pdf
*** www.firstbook.org
**** http://www.kidsforpeaceusa.org/index.htm