- Jane Addams (1860-1935), social reformer and pacifist. Traveling in 1888, she discovered Toynbee Hall in London, known as the prototype of the settlement house. Her belief that the settlement offered the opportunity for a mutually enriching life for herself, and others led her to found Hull House, with Ellen Gates Starr, in Chicago in 1889. The working-class, ethnic neighbors flocked to the classes, clubs, day nursery, gymnasium, dispensary, concerts, plays, exhibits, and other functions of the settlement. Hull House was a headquarters of education and labor reform, and a major political influence. An era Page 292 →of voluntarism began among women, and thousands of centers modeled on Hull House sprang up over the next 30 years, including the University of Chicago Settlement, headed by Mary McDowell (1854-1936). McDowell was an early resident of Hull House, and she and Addams were devoted friends. Untiring in their pursuits, they aroused public attention to improve industrial districts. Called “Mary the Magnificent,” McDowell was a trade union organizer who chaired the committee advocating what became the 19-volume national investigation on women workers. Addams was a lifelong feminist and founder of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and McDowell worked for peace through the League of Nations. Addams believed that the passionate desire for good will and human understanding among nations would sweep away the impulses for war and that peace education could be as infectious as war propaganda.
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