Jane Addams

Jane Addams (1860-1935), American social reformer and Nobel laureate, born in Cedarville, Illinois, and educated at Rockford Female Seminary and the Women's Medical College, and in Europe. In 1889, with Ellen Starr, Addams established Hull House in Chicago, one of the first examples of social housing in the United States. Addams played a prominent part in the formation of the National Progressive party in 1912 and of the Woman's Peace party, of which she became chair in 1915. She was elected (1915) president of the International Congress of Women at The Hague, Netherlands, and president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, which was established by The Hague congress. She was a delegate to similar congresses held in Zurich (1919), Vienna (1921), The Hague (1922), Washington, D.C. (1924), Dublin (1926), and Prague (1929). She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, sharing the award with the American educator Nicholas Murray Butler. Her works include Democracy and Social Ethics (1902), Newer Ideals of Peace (1907), Twenty Years at Hull House (1910), and The Second Twenty Years at Hull House (1930).