Laura Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois on September 6, 1860. She was the eighth born of nine children, although only she, two sisters, and a brother survived to adulthood. Her father, John Huy Addams, was a businessman and a local political leader who served for sixteen years as a state senator and fought as an officer in the Civil War. Jane’s mother, Sarah Weber Addams, died when she was two years old, so she did not have much contact with her. Jane Addams, known most importantly for her work as a social reformer, pacifist and feminist, graduated from the Rockford Female Seminary in Illinois in 1881 and was granted a degree the following year when the school became accredited as Rockford College for Women.
At 27-years-old, her
At 27-years-old, her