12/08/2025
When Jane Addams became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, it was a stunning vindication for a woman who had been branded unpatriotic and expelled from the Daughters of the American Revolution just years earlier. The Evening Star wrote: "Probably no woman in our history ever worked harder or achieved more in social service and peace work than Jane Addams."
The visionary social reformer and champion of immigrant communities was born in Illinois in 1860. A voracious reader as a child, Addams was inspired by Charles Dickens' writing on the lives of the poor to spend her life helping those in need. As an adult, she learned about the settlement house movement -- a social reform effort that began in the late 19th century to provide education and healthcare resources to the urban poor. After visiting Toynbee Hall in London, the world's first settlement house, Addams was inspired to open Hull House in Chicago in 1889.
The co-founder of this famous settlement house was instrumental in bringing the needs of mothers and children to greater public awareness and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States. Hull House offered an adult night school; clubs for older children; a gym and bath house; music, theater, and art lessons; and an employment center, among many other services. At its height, 2,000 people a week walked through its doors.
Addams encouraged women to become "civic housekeepers," working for the betterment of their communities. In 1894, she served as the first woman appointed as sanitary inspector and, with the help of the Hull House Women's Club, made over 1,000 reports of health department violations. She was also a vocal advocate of women's suffrage, recognizing that human welfare concerns would not be given adequate attention by the government without the voices and votes of women.
A staunch supporter of Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party, Addams was elected president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1915. In this capacity, she headed a commission which organized the first significant international effort to mediate between the warring nations. As a pacifist, she faced severe criticism once the US entered World War I and was even branded as unpatriotic. Following the war, however, President Calvin Coolidge and the public at large supported Addams and the WILPF's efforts in the 1920s to ban poison gas -- which was achieved in 1925 with the signing of the Geneva Protocol.
Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering social reform work and her leadership of WILPF's peacebuilding efforts -- the second woman in history to receive the honor. Remembered as an individual who had transformed the lives of so many, especially women, Addams once said that the "[o]ld-fashioned ways which no longer apply to changed conditions are a snare in which the feet of women have always become readily entangled." Thanks to her tireless efforts for suffrage and women's rights, there are fewer snares in all of our paths.
To introduce kids to Jane Addams' inspiring story, there are two wonderful picture books: "The House That Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams" for ages 5 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-house-that-jane-built) and "Dangerous Jane" for ages 6 to 10 (https://www.amightygirl.com/dangerous-jane)
For tweens and teens, she is one of the courageous changemakers profiled in "She Did It! 21 Women Who Changed the Way We Think" for ages 10 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/she-did-it) and "She Takes A Stand: 16 Fearless Activists Who Have Changed The World" for ages 12 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/she-takes-a-stand)
Adult readers may enjoy Jane Addams' classic book about the history of the remarkable institution she founded: "20 Years at Hull-House" at http://amzn.to/1wcTHrG
There are also two excellent biographies for adult readers: "Jane Addams: Spirit in Action" (https://www.amightygirl.com/jane-addams-spirit-in-action) and "Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy" (https://www.amightygirl.com/citizen)
To inspire children and teens with more stories of real-life girls and women who fought for change and stood up for justice, check out our blog post, "50 Books About Women Who Fought for Change," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14364
