Philosopher
Jane Addams
Overview
Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, philosopher, and author. She was a leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage. In 1889, Addams co-founded Hull House, one of America's most famous settlement houses, in Chicago, Illinois, providing extensive social services to poor, largely immigrant families. Philosophically a "radical pragmatist", she was arguably the first woman public philosopher in the United States. In the Progressive Era, when even presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson identified themselves as reformers and might be seen as social activists, Addams was one of the most prominent reformers.
An advocate for world peace, and recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States, in 1931 Addams became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; she shared the win with Nicholas Murray Butler. Earlier, Addams was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from Yale University in 1910, becoming the first woman to receive an honorary degree from the school. In 1920, she was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Addams helped America address and focus on issues that were of concern to mothers, as well as the domestic work assigned to women, such as the needs of children, local public health, and world peace. In her essay "Utilization of Women in City Government", Addams noted the connection between the workings of government and the household, stating that many departments of government, such as sanitation and the schooling of children, could be traced back to traditional women's roles in the private sphere. When she died in 1935, Addams was the best-known female public figure in the United States.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Philosophers who discussed Jane Addams
Ideas Jane Addams discusses
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Thomas Carlyle
- Expansionism
- Prostitution
- John Stuart Mill
- John Dewey
- London
- Harvard University
- Environmental justice
- Leo Tolstoy
- Great Depression
- University of Chicago Press
- Philippines
- Presbyterianism
- Nobel Peace Prize
- The New York Times
- Abraham Lincoln
- United Nations
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Chicago
- George Herbert Mead
- Yale University
- United States
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Place in the tradition
Part of Pragmatism.