Jane Addams was born September 6, 1860 and died May 21, 1935. She was a remarkable person and left behind an awesome legacy of social and political activism. Jane was a pioneer American settlement social worker, a public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women’s suffrage and world peace. She began her contributions during the Progressive Era and was able to stand out and still leave a great mark during the times when Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were also making their marks as reformers and social activists.
She helped America realize the concerns of mothers, the needs of their children, world peace, and local and public health. Jane Addams was born in Cedarsville, Illinois and was the youngest of eight children. Her father was John Addams who was a State Senator for the state of Illinois for sixteen years and a very successful businessman. When Jane was four years old she contracted tuberculosis of the spine which caused a curvature of her in her spine and caused lifelong health problems. Understandably this made it very difficult to function with other children. Jane thought she was ugly as a child and remembered thinking of herself as an embarrassment to her father and would be very self-conscious about walking next to him in public. …show more content…
She also became interested in the poor from reading Dickens. Her father encouraged her to pursue higher education. Jane wanted to attend a new college for women which was the Smith College in Massachusetts but her father made her attend a school nearby which was Rockford Female Seminary. Jane graduated from Rockford in 1881 earning a college certificate. She had planned to attend Smith to earn a Bachelor’s degree but her father died unexpectedly that summer from a case of appendicitis. Jane and her siblings inherited about $50,000 each which is equivalent to about 1.25 million dollars
She helped America realize the concerns of mothers, the needs of their children, world peace, and local and public health. Jane Addams was born in Cedarsville, Illinois and was the youngest of eight children. Her father was John Addams who was a State Senator for the state of Illinois for sixteen years and a very successful businessman. When Jane was four years old she contracted tuberculosis of the spine which caused a curvature of her in her spine and caused lifelong health problems. Understandably this made it very difficult to function with other children. Jane thought she was ugly as a child and remembered thinking of herself as an embarrassment to her father and would be very self-conscious about walking next to him in public. …show more content…
She also became interested in the poor from reading Dickens. Her father encouraged her to pursue higher education. Jane wanted to attend a new college for women which was the Smith College in Massachusetts but her father made her attend a school nearby which was Rockford Female Seminary. Jane graduated from Rockford in 1881 earning a college certificate. She had planned to attend Smith to earn a Bachelor’s degree but her father died unexpectedly that summer from a case of appendicitis. Jane and her siblings inherited about $50,000 each which is equivalent to about 1.25 million dollars