Jane Addams to Helen Culver, April 11, 1913

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GRAND NEW HOTEL,
JERUSALEM.

Jerusalem, April 11" 1913

My dear Miss Culver

A letter from Mrs Bowen awaiting us here tells us of your most generous gift to Hull-House at Easter.

Both Mary Smith and I are profoundly touched and pleased. I had been feeling quite worried over the big insurance bills which were [page 2] due this Spring and for which I had made no provision. I have felt like a deserter many times but certainly our wonderful month in Egypt ought to be productive of results. I haven't felt so stimulated and refreshed for years. I do hope that you and Miss French will take the journey some Spring. It is a very easy journey, going directly from New York to Alexandria and the days on the Nile boat in the midst of the [page 3] careful intimate cultivation of the land, to the very waters edge, give one a new sense of human effort. The ancient history was much more vivid than I had imagined it and our letters to Judge Amos and some other English people gave us a new view of "imperialism."

We left Egypt after a month with genuine regret but this wonderful old land promises to be quite as interesting in its own way. At the church of the Holy Sepulcher this morning, the hundreds of pilgrims, the divided sects, the grim fighting [page 4] of which it bore many traces, was very touching as if human nature had broken down [through] its very devotion to the greatest message.

We expect to sail for home June 25th, so that I shall hope to see you early in July.

Mary Smith sends her love to Miss French and yourself and unites with me in thanking you for your endless kindness to Hull-House.

Always devotedly yours Jane Addams.