Jane Addams

There is something I would like to tell you about my life in Chicago... After all, you might say I am one of its most influential residents.”

Who are you? I asked

"My name is Jane Addams.”
I couldn't believe it! Here a wax figure was talking with me–just like the figures in the toy museum last year-and somehow this was even stranger– This was a individual who was deceased, but was somehow walking and talking to me about her earthly existence. For some reason, I felt the need to somehow test her out.

Transcript

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First, let me get this out of the way. This podcast blends history and imagination. Real historical figures appear alongside fictional situations and imagined conversations. While based on historical research, portions of the program are dramatized for storytelling purposes. Now, having gotten that out of the way, I'd like to welcome you to the Hall of Imagination, where the figures of history have stories to tell, and the past is never quite as silent as it seems. And I'd like to dedicate this episode to my cousin Sarah, a retired social work professor who is now in her 90s and is definitely the most intelligent as well as delightful person I know. And now the night watchman. Hello, people out there. In the previous episode, I had just gotten a job as a night watchman at a Chicago wax museum. I must admit I was somewhat accustomed to toys coming alive and talking at an earlier toy museum where I worked, but I certainly didn't expect anything similar to that experience at my current place of employment. However, during my first night, the wax figure of a very gentle-looking lady seemed to come alive and began speaking. There is something I would like to talk to you about. My life in Chicago. After all, you might say I am one of its most influential residents. Who are you? I asked. My name is Jane Adams. I I couldn't believe it. Here was a wax figure talking with me, just like the figures in the toy museum last year. But somehow this was even stranger. This was an individual who was deceased, but was somehow walking and talking to me about her earthly existence, as I was to learn later. For some reason, I felt the need to somehow test her out. Well well, tell me, where were you born? Oh I guess that is a logical place to start. You see, I was born on an Illinois prairie in a little town called Cedarville. My mother unfortunately died when I was only two years old. Well, that's gotta be an extremely uh extremely terrible tragedy for a child so young. Yes, I I was much too young to understand why mama was no longer here. Then a disease made my back crooked and my toes point in. I felt uh different, unwanted, lonely, and totally helpless. I knew what it was like to suffer. Well, perhaps they influenced the decisions you made later in your life. Oh yes. Uh I had a few friends, but it seemed like I always depended upon my father. We read many, many books together, took long walks, and often journeyed into town for for its many attractions. One day my father and I passed through a poverty-stricken part of town. I had never seen homes and people like this before. Dilapidated shacks and starving families. Well, what was your reaction to these families? Obviously, I wanted to help them. But their problems were very, very big, and I was just a very, very little girl. But I promised myself that when I grew up, I would buy a big house to share with those who needed a decent home. Well, I guess back then women were more than even today expected to leave home not, but to leave home, get married, and start a family. Ah, but but I had my own plans. I wanted to go to college and have a career helping others. Marriage was not in my future. I studied hard, graduated near the top of my class, and began to learn about the world in earnest. I saw statues in Italy and operas in France. Some of the finest achievements of humankind. But in England I saw something very different. I saw starving people spending the little money they did own on rotten vegetables. I was surrounded by poverty and felt completely helpless. So so Jane, uh may may I call you Jane? Uh were you able to do anything to help the people that you saw? Yes, I saw something that I felt would help alleviate the problem a great deal. You see, I saw a place called Toynbee, T-O-Y-N, B. E. E. Hall, a settlement house in London. Their philosophy was to help poor people help themselves. Well, how did they do that? Uh oh, they helped poor people help themselves by providing the skills as well as the confidence and even the dignity to start a new life. I visited the house and saw uh saw uh people trying to learn to read and write, discovering art and history, and attending concerts and classes, and all this gave me an idea. Well, what was that idea? I still had an intense desire to help struggling families, so when I sailed home, I envisioned the idea of my own settlement house. Imagine, immigrants who work long days for little pay could find the help they truly deserved. So specifically, what did you do? Specifically I I searched Chicago and found a big brick building that could be the perfect place for poor people who needed help. The only problem was that the house was extremely old with broken windows and peeling paint. In other words, not in very good condition at all. Well, I have a feeling that didn't stop ya. It certainly didn't. I spent a great deal of time going around the city asking rich women for donations to turn this dilapidated building into a true home. Well could you describe the neighborhood in which the house was located? Oh certainly. When I first saw the neighborhood, it was a crowded immigrant district filled with people from Italy, Ireland, Germany, Russia, Poland, Greece, and many other places. What began is one old mansion by the name of Hall House, eventually grew into a 13-building complex serving thousands of people. Well, why did the building, just out of curiosity, why did it have the name of Hall House? Well the old mansion already bore the name of Charles Hall, when my good friend Ellen Starr and I arrived. We kept the name, but over the years Hall House came to mean something much larger than a building. It became a place where neighbors helped neighbors. Well that's definitely fascinating. Yes, because in eighteen eighty nine when the house was opened, everyone was welcome. I remember working eighteen hours a day to provide whatever my neighbors might need. Like what? Oh there were numerous needs, such as English lessons, childcare, steady work and others too numerous dimension. Well, Miss Adams, that is most impressive. Ah, but most importantly, I I like to believe that we gave friendship, dignity, and hope. Why, I remember that families from Italy, Greece, Russia, Ireland, Germany, Poland, and many other countries would gather in our house, in Hall House. And true, sometimes they argued about deeply held beliefs, but I always asked them to listen carefully, respect each other, and if there were differences, to peacefully settle them. I believe this was necessary for everyone at Hall House to get along. In fact, I wrote a book about my experiences called Twenty Years at Hall House. Permit me to share with you a very brief section from that work. Nevertheless, many evils constantly arise in Chicago from congested housing which wiser cities forestall and prevent. The inevitable borders crowded into a dark tenement already too small for the use of the immigrant family occupying it, the surprisingly large number of delinquent girls who have become criminally involved with their own fathers and uncles. The schoolchildren who cannot find a quiet spot in which to read or study, and who go into the streets each evening, the tuberculosis superinduced and fostered by the inadequate rooms and breathing spaces. That is is most interesting. Permit me to ask you how how did people in general feel about you? Ah, newspapers called me Saint Jane. President Theodore Roosevelt wrote me a letter of sincere thanks. And the New York Post, Evening Post, wanted me to even run for president. Why that is quite remarkable. But all was not well. I might have been talking peace, but Europe across the seas was talking war. Countries were arguing about land, money, and power. They established armies and built weapons to destroy their enemies. Then, on July 28, 1914, I learned that World War I had begun. Many soldiers were to die in terrible battles. Many families were forced to leave the villages in which they had lived for centuries. Those same families were frequently starving. Well, Miss Adams, what was your reaction? I can only say that my heart ached like it had never ached before. I had assisted people from various countries for twenty five years at Hall House. But what could I do in the face of a war? Yes, that would make anyone feel helpless. Ah, but after a great deal of thought, I came up on a possible solution. I decided to bring American women together and form the Women's Peace Party. Our goal was to find a way to end the war. Well, out of curiosity, did women overseas also learn of your efforts? Well, yes, I'm very glad you asked that. Likewise, women overseas long for peace as well, so we formed an organization in the Netherlands called the International Congress of Women. I convinced 1,500 women from twelve countries to work together for peace. Well, specifically, what did you do then? We debated for days and tried to find new ways to stop the war. In the process, we recreated 20 resolutions or ideas for peace to share with leaders of the world. Well, what was the reaction to your ideas? Unfortunately, newspapers of the time called our plan completely silly. They believed that the role of women was to cook, clean, and care for children, that women had nothing of any importance to say to presidents and prime ministers. Somehow I don't think you gave up. You are most correct. I definitely did not give up. I felt that I knew what to say. It might have been incredibly tiring, but I spoke regarding my peace resolutions with the British Prime Minister, the French Foreign Minister, the Austrian Prime Minister, and even the Pope. Well that was quite an accomplishment. I understood that war was extremely complicated, and I realized the importance of each idea, each visit, each smile, and each handshake in reaching peace. I wrote hundreds of letters, was the head of peace conferences, and begged opposing nations to talk with each other and more importantly to listen to each other. And finally, after four years of terrible destruction, the war ended in 1918, and the world was finally at peace again. So what did you do then? I must admit that my heart was breaking for the people living in the countries directly affected by the war. And so after returning to the United States, I sailed across the ocean again and visited children in hospitals and fed families who were starving. But at the same time, there were some people at home who did not like me helping strangers in other countries. They did not like the fact that I was giving away precious food. Some people said that I was a traitor, that I cared more about former enemies in other countries than my own neighbors next door. I began to receive terrible letters from people around the United States. These were people who I had never met, but they wrote terrible things to me. And when I gave speeches, the crowds who once loved me booed me off the stage. The FBI even named me the most dangerous woman in America. Well, what did you do then? Why, I simply kept doing what I always had done, helping people. It was not important where they were from, and it was not important what other people thought. The cost was not important, and I continued helping people year after year. Well, the one thing I can say is that you stuck with your ideas and beliefs. That's a truism. Ah, but in 1931, I became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Actually, I shared the award with the then president of Columbia University, a man by the name of Nicholas Murray Butler. Now I'm not complaining, but it is a fact that I battled health problems for much of my earthly life. In addition to spinal tuberculosis, I was later to endure pneumonia, kidney problems, a heart attack, and cancer. But despite my suffering, I'd like to believe that I never stopped working for peace and helping others. Well, Miss Adams, it's obvious that you were a dedicated person during your earthly existence. Now, Mr. Night Watchman, I understand that uh this is pride month in your society today. I certainly was not able to talk openly regarding the person I loved during my earthly life, but in your current society, I cannot help but believe that things would be different. You see, it is generally believed that I had a deeply intimate, lifelong relationship with Mary Rose Smith. Your modern historians generally agree that we were fallen more than just friends, although they differ on what label should be applied to our extremely intense relationship. Some experts describe me as lesbian, others as queer, and some prefer simply to describe the relationship without imposing a modern category. Understand that I lived in a very, very different era. But there is so much more to me I would like to think than just one aspect of my life. I founded this famous settlement house, Hall House, worked with immigrants, advocated for women's rights, helped thousands of poor individuals across the world who might have otherwise been forgotten, and was co winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Well this has been a fascinating experience, Miss Adams. Do you have any idea who might be the individual who will speak with me in the next episode? Why, yes, uh we of this wax museum were hoping that you would speak with the wax figure of Thomas Jefferson. Why, I would be delighted to experience an encounter with such a historical giant. Join us for the next episode for the first of three conversations with the great Thomas Jefferson. Sources include the following books by Jane Adams Democracy and Social Ethics, New York, the McMillan Company, 1902, Newer Ideals of Peace, New York, the McMillan Company, 1907, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, New York, the McMillan McMillan Company, 1909, 20 years at Hall House, the McMillan Company, 1910. And I used Chat GPT as a research assistant.