Progressin' -- A Jane Addams Rap

Announcer voice: Ha! Jane Addams! In the Hull House! Let’s get it!

JANE:

First woman with a Nobel Prize, who it be?
Hey that’s me! A key reformer to the nth degree
Innovative and radical, call me Dangerous Jane
But most of y’all don’t even know my name.

I’ll get a mention, a footnote in ya textbook at best,
But I’m so much more, I’m gonna leave ya impressed.
So forget what you know, cus now class is in session
And I’ll tell y’all the story of the making of a legend.

My father was a senator, a friend of Abe Lincoln,
Instilled morals into my upbringing
In a town called Cedarville in North Illinois
We were living rich, had everything to enjoy.

Until one day in the city :
I was seven or eight
I saw a sight so grotesque
That it set my fate.

People livin’ in squalor,
Beggin’ out on the streets
Children working long hours
Not enough food to eat.

So I decided right then and there
That I’d rearrange
And exchange their despair with some hope for a change
Under one roof providing for poor families and needs
Just give me some time, let’s see where this leads.

The Rockford Seminary’s next up for me
I was the valedictorian and I earned my degree
But that wasn’t enough, no I wanna learn more
So it’s medical school just for one year, not four.

Cus my mind and my spine both gave out second year
So I went over to Europe just to ease all my fears
But I found in East London what I’d seen back in the States
Including widespread poverty and terrible pay rates.

So what people do? They’ve got no hopes at all!
Enter the settlement movement, starts with Toynbee Hall:
A house that I saw where people said “Hey,
Don’t gotta pay!” “I left my kids there during the day”

A great start, no doubt, but I could do betta’
And I went to Chicago cus I’m a real go-getter
Bought the house of Charles Hull, and I signed the deed
Fixed it up with everything that a person could need

Like public baths, a kindergarten, a labor museum
And a park for the kids so that you can treat ‘em.
Made a community kitchen for all kinds of cookin’
And bomb music classes, just ask Benny Goodman!

So Hull House is booming, but did I stop there?
How could I when society’s still so unfair?
I stood up for the strikers when they protested their treatment,
Moved to stop child labor, made healthcare more decent.

Started the W-I-L-P-F, a group for women
Who felt that mass warfare was akin to sinnin’
Wrote articles, speeches, letters on peace, it was my mission
Criticized the Treaty of Versailles, but no one listened

Don’t forget membership in a group that was
The leading catalyst fighting for democracy
A coalition called the N double A CP
Cus equality and freedom is the way to be.

Now my story is finished and I hope that you smile
To see my name on a test every once and awhile
Cus I’m American-made, the most dangerous madam
Always keep Progressin’ Sincerely yours, Jane Addams

Written and performed by Paige Drews during her 2018 summer internship. Beat Credits: Hip Hop Beats - Rap Instrumentals | Mixla.

For more on this rap, see Paige's blog post: Progressin' My Experience Working for the Jane Addams Papers Project.