Jane Addams Contribution To The American Progressivism Movement

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Not only was Jane Addams a leader in the American Progressivism Movement, but she contributed in many other aspects of American history. Her most notable contribution is Hull House, one of the first settlements in America, she created in the West Side of Chicago in 1889. Jane Addams’ motivation for creating the Hull House was not only what I think she felt as her moral and religious obligation to provide some type of relief to those suffering around her, but everyone else’s lack of action and her need to find some type of meaning in her life.
After her father’s death and her traveling through Europe for six years Jane began experiencing self-doubt and depression which caused her to notice a lack of meaning in the “comfortable life of a privileged woman” (Lane). Throughout her writing “The Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements” she reiterated the she felt that everyone knows that something needs to be done, but no one was doing anything. She could not enjoy her life of luxury knowing that those around her didn’t even have their basic needs. Addams said that “Nothing so deadens the sympathies and shrivels the power of enjoyment as the… continual ignoring of the starvation struggle which makes up the life of at least …show more content…

She is now seen as the original social worker and a pioneer of the Social Change Movement. Even After her death and the physical Hull House being tore down there is still the Jane Addams Hull House Association (JAHHA) which still has an impact on things going on today. Per the National Park & Recreation Association “Although the settlement spirit is gone and the organizational structure has changed, JAHHA still challenges the social conditions of Chicago and provides youth and recreational services to impoverished youth and families” (Dieser

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