Jane Addams and Hull HouseSettlement houses in context

Yvonne FordAdvisor for Academic English in Fb4

Industrial revolution

Away from manual labour, supported by animals, largely in the countryside

To machine-based manufacturing

Major turning point in human history

Social and cultural change

Friedrich Engles, The condition of the working class in England in 1844,

spoke of

"an industrial revolution, a revolution which at the same time changed the whole of civil society."

England

Natural resources Large work force Favourable climate Protestant work ethic

Textiles

Steam power

Iron founding

Ruhr Valley was referred to as „Miniature England“

Second industrial revolution

Chemical industries Petroleum refining Electrical industries

later the automotive industry

Late 1890‘s – first global corporations

Factories

Child labour, cheap and effective Low wages, long working hours Accidents

First laws restricting child labour were passed in 1833 and 1844

Resistance

From craft workers (cottage industries) From agricultural workers Unions and co-operatives

Strikes, riots

Imprisonment or deportation

Marxism, Romanticism (nature)

Crowded housing

Poor sanitation Small houses Contaminated water Diseases (cholera, tuberculosis, typhoid,

chest diseases due to mining)

Effects of industrialisation

Increase in life expectancy Despite diseases, children lived longer Expansion of transportation

Railways, roads, shipping

Printing – rising literacy

Information Demand for participation

Immigration to the USA

1840 84,000 Europeans to USA 1850 369,000 1890 450,000

Many of these immigrants were sick and weak, suffered from being displaced.

Germans in Chicago

From 1850, when Germans constituted one-sixth of Chicago's population, until the turn of the century, people of German descent constituted the largest ethnic group in the city, followed by Irish, Poles and Swedes.

In 1900, 470,000 Chicagoans - one out of every four residents - had either been born in Germany or had a parent born there.

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/512.html

Stresses of immigration

The number of Germans who killed their wives or daughters was higher than in other immigrant groups. The men who murdered their wives were not only the unskilled workers but also semi-skilled and skilled.

Frequently the men then attempted or committed suicide.

The killings were often preceded by a history of wife-beating.

Adler, Jeffrey S., First in violence, deepest in dirt: homicide in Chicago, 1875-1920, Harvard University Press, 2006

Other immigrant groups

Italian and Irish men also committed family murders, often saying they had exploded in rage. Domestic violence played a role in these families as well. The stresses of the workplace, family tension and suspicion of adultery are some of the factors named.

Response to these problems:social activism Political patronage Church based missionaries, urban missions,

social gospel Friendly visitors and case conferences of

experts Settlement movement Call for scientific charity

Secular, rational, empirical

Friendly visiting

Focus on helping individuals, trying to help them avoid becoming dependent on outside help

Focus on self-sufficiency and personal responsibility

Case conferences – knowledgeable people cooperating to help individuals and families

Mary Richmond

Charity Organization Society (COS) In 1897 she presented a paper at the

National Conference entitled „The Need of a Training School in Applied Philanthropy“

„We can never acquire a professional standard until we have a school.“

Settlement movement – 3 R‘s

Research Reform Residence

First was Toynbee Hall in London Later in the USA

In USA settlement houses were founded by university-educated women 1889 New York 1892 Philadelphia and Boston

1889 Hull House in Chicago Opened by Jane Addams and Ellen Starr

Vision of the settlement houses

Desire for actual social democracy, including women‘s suffrage

Desire to share the common interests and problems of life, beyond class divisions

Renaissance of the community spirit of the early Christian church (communal spirit)

„Living among those very poor people, my sense of values changed curiously.“ Vera Scudder, founder of one of the settlement houses

Settlement house „caught on“

1891 6 houses 1896 44 1913 413 houses in 32 states

Jane Addams

Youngest of four children Bachelor of Arts degree in 1882 Traveled to Europe 1883 – 1885 and 1887-

1888, saw poverty in Europe and efforts to alleviate it (Toynbee Hall)

Opened Hull House in 1889 with friend Ellen Gates Starr

Jane Addams 1888 - 1892

Hull House

Hull House neighbourhood

Mix of ethnic groups that had immigrated to Chicago: Little Italy Germans Jews (from Russia) Greek Irish Canadian-French

Open to all groups, no discrimination due to race, language, creed (beliefs) or tradition

Activities

Reseach (gathering information about problems and their causes)

Social reform (education, labor legislation, municipal reform, child welfare)

Club work (informal education and recreation for children, youth groups, and adults. Volunteers led the groups.)

Significance of club work

Clubs could draw out the latent potential of the members.

They learned to work together, learned mutual understanding and a sense of democracy and participation, civic responsibility.

Hull House activities

Ethnic evenings – food, music, dancing and presentations

Kindergarten – for children whose mothers were at work

Dispensary – nutritious food was given to sick persons

Medical assistance – when there was no doctor available

First public playground – led to the foundation of the National Playground Association

Nursery at Hull House

Further activities

Education and political reforms – first juvenile court in America, branch library system

Theater – American Little Theater Movement

Child labour laws

Occupational safety, health provisionsImmigrant rights and pension laws

Addams lived in Hull House for 40 years, used her inheritance to support the activities.

Pacificism

She wrote „Newer Ideals of Peace“ in 1907 and became known as a pacifist. This brought her much ridicule and censure in the USA.

She was also active in the international peace movement and founded the Women‘s Internation League for Peace and Freedom.

International Conference, The Hague

Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, shared with Nicholas Murray Butler. She had a reputation as the „Mother of the World.“

Addams shared her life for 30 years with her dearest friend Mary Rozet Smith; Smith died in 1934.

Addams and Smith

Jane Addams died in 1935 and was buried in Cedarville, Illinois, her birthplace.

Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R6GajHiJyk&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mDcgQDY2k4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VOw6v-S5O4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJhAyD-Peig&feature=related