Jane Addams: The Spirit Of Progressivism

Jane Addams was without a doubt a shining example of what the spirit of progressivism stood for. Jane Addams was a founder of Hull-House, a settlement house which was established in eighteen eighty-nine. Hull-House was used primarily by poor Europeans, who immigrated to the Chicago land area. Hull-House had innovative social and educational programs which helped the immigrants grow accustomed to American living. Jane Addams main goal with Hull-House was to try and eliminate problems that were caused by urbanization, immigration, and a corrupt government. In her nonfiction book, “Twenty Years at Hull-House,” Addams talks about her experience at Hull-House and how she helped improve the lives of not only those who were frequent visitors at Hull-House but also how she …show more content…
Addams realized that she could only do so much by herself and figured that the best thing to do was to reach out to the government and ask for their help to promote the building of Hull-House facilities and programs. However, Addams took it upon herself and ran for alderman against John Powers. Whilst Addams lost she became very important amongst the school system and public waste disposal. She consistently called Powers out for being corrupt and was able to make a ripple in Chicago politics. Addams was appointed a member of Chicago’s Board of Education and was able to inspire many women across the country to step up and state their issues that they had with the way that the city was operating. Jane Addams was able to inspire people to vote for more public facilties to help the youth and poor out across the city.
In conclusion, it is clear to see that Jane Addams was a driving force in progressivism. She was able to better the lives of thousands of people and still has a legacy that is quite remarkable. Her ideas of settlement houses are still being used across the city of Chicago