Browse · Jane Addams Digital Edition

The Subtle Problems of Charity, February 1899

Addams discusses the problems that charity workers face when they bring middle-class assumptions about the poor to their efforts to practically help them.

Charity Labor Poverty Social Work

Statement on Abraham Isaak and Chicago Anarchists, September 8, 1901

Addams asks the Mayor for permission to see Abraham Isaak and other anarchists arrested in the wake of the McKinley assassination.

Anarchism Courts Crime Immigrants

Address to the Merchant's Club, March 8, 1902

With Maud Booth, Addams addresses the Merchant's Club, appealing for aid in helping criminals and rescuing boys who may become criminals.

Child Welfare Courts Crime Immigrants Lectures Poverty

The Housing Problem in Chicago, July 1902

Addams argues that tenement conditions are bad and that regulations are needed to prevent worsening conditions.

Housing Immigrants Social Welfare

The Social Results of Charitable Effort, November 17, 1902 (excerpt)

Addams discusses the need to understand the poor in order to solve the problems of poverty.

Charity Immigrants Lectures Poverty Settlement Movement Social Work

The New Social Spirit, December, 2, 1902

A copy of a speech about labor, philanthropy, and immigrants that Addams delivered to the National Council of Jewish Women.

Immigrants Philanthropy Religion Settlements

Chicago Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Houses, "Newsboy Conditions in Chicago," 1903

A 28-page illustrated pamphlet outlining the work and social conditions of newsboys and newsgirls, based on a two-day intensive investigation. In it the Committee proposes revisions in child labor laws to curb the worst excesses.

Child Labor Children Gambling Legislation Social Welfare

Statement on Italian Immigrants at Hull-House, February 3, 1903

Addams summarizes the life and background of Italian immigrants living in Chicago.

Immigrants Italy

The Newer Ideals as They Are Affecting Life, April 11, 1903 (excerpt)

Addams discusses her experiences with immigrants in a talk to the Cook County Teachers' Association.

Children Education Immigrants Lectures

Jane Addams to Edwin Erle Sparks, June 21, 1903

Addams writes to Sparks regarding her place on a local committee dedicated to foreigner's affairs

Immigrants Lectures

The Humanizing Tendency of Industrial Education, May 1904

Addams discusses the importance of manual training to the education of immigrant children, using examples from Hull-House and the labor museum.

Education Immigrants Labor

Hull House and Its Neighbors, May 7, 1904

Addams discusses the two methods by which Hull-House seeks to expose immigrant communities to greater society: by securing people who form friendships in the community and by providing self-expression to the immigrants.

Education Immigrants Plays

Work and Play: Recognition Day Address By Miss Jane Addams, August 16, 1905

Addams spoke about the issues of education and immigration, arguing that Americans need to open their minds to the experiences of immigrants, and that play is an important component of education,

Education Immigrants Social Welfare

Chautauqua Speech, August 30, 1905 (summary)

Addams discusses the plight of child labor and immigration in a speech to the Chautauqua.

Child Labor Immigrants Lectures

The Immigrants and American Charities, October 24, 1905

Addams delivered this address at the Illinois Conference on Charities on October 24, 1905, discussing the lack of interest in learning about recent immigrants and working with them.

Charity Child Labor Education Housing Immigrants Public Health

Speech to Hull House Woman's Club on Immigration, November 23, 1905 (excerpt)

Addams argues that immigrants needs to be dispersed throughout the country to be successful.

Agriculture Immigrants Lectures

Day Nurseries: Do They Foster Parental Irresponsibility (extract), December 30, 1905

An extract of Addams' discussion of day nurseries, and their impact on poor families.

Education Poverty Social Welfare

The Modern City and the Municipal Franchise for Women, 1906

Addams discusses the history of suffrage and argues that women in modern, urban societies need the vote.

Government History Immigrants Juvenile Delinquency Labor Public Health Woman Suffrage

Problems of Municipal Administration, February 8, 1906

Addams discusses the role of juvenile courts in encouraging good behavior among the poor and dependent.

Education Immigrants Juvenile Delinquency Law

How the Average Citizen Is Ignored in Our System of Government, March 1, 1906

Addams argues that government services let down the poor and the immigrants. This is a shortened version of the "Problems of Municipal Administration,"

Education Government Immigrants Politics

Gino C. Speranza to Jane Addams, May 2, 1906

Speranza hopes Addams will take the time to meet with the new acting Counsul General of Italy for Chicago as he is interested in "sociological questions".

Immigrants Italy Requests

Settlement Work, June 1, 1906 (excerpt) Also known as Address at the General Federation of Women's Clubs Convention, June 1, 1906 (excerpt)

Addams discusses the role that settlements play in improving the conditions of the poor. Only the portion of the article with Addams remarks has been included.

Charity Lectures Poverty Settlement Movement Social Class

Why Girls Go Wrong, September 1907

Addams explores the lack of opportunities, education and home life that leads young women into trouble.

Children Crime Immigrants Poverty

The Possibilities of the American Immigrant, October 28, 1907 (excerpt)

In a speech at Carnegie Music Hall, Addams discusses immigrants to America and the work ethic of Chicago immigrants.

Crafts Immigrants Immigration Labor Lectures

The Social Value of the Immigrant, March 14, 1908 (excerpt)

Addams discusses the benefits of suffrage and how the vote will benefit immigrant women living in tenement houses. This lecture was made before the Ethical Culture Society at New Century Hall in Philadelphia on March 14, 1908 and published later.

Labor Lectures Woman Suffrage

The Relation of Women to Industry and Social Legislation (excerpt), March 22, 1908 (excerpt)

An excerpt from Addams' March 22 speech at Faneuil Hall to the Boston Equal Suffrage Association and the Women's Trade Union League on the changes in women's work brought about by factory work.

Education Germany Immigrants Labor Lectures Legislation Public Health Woman Suffrage Women's Rights

Value of the Immigrant, April 5, 1908 (excerpt)

Addams urges the public to have a better understanding of the immigrant so as to benefit from their often unseen wisdom and culture.

Immigrants Social Reform

We Must Go Man Hunting (excerpt), April 26, 1908

Addams speaks for the value of immigrants to American society. This article was drawn from a speech.

Crafts Immigrants Lectures

The Chicago Settlements and Social Unrest, May 2, 1908

Addams discusses the association in the public eye between settlements and immigrants and when immigrants are involved in high profile crimes, settlements are accused of supporting anarchism. Addams defends the role of the settlement as the bridge between immigrant communities and the American public, holding that it does not change in times of crisis.

Anarchism Anti-Semitism Crime Immigrants Public Opinion Religion Russia Settlements

Harrison J. Pinkett to Jane Addams, May 12, 1908

Pinkett praises Addams' defense of immigrants in her article in Charities and Commons and relates the persecution of immigrants to that of African-Americans.

African-Americans Immigrants Praise Race

Ellen A. Martin to Jane Addams, May 13, 1908

Martin offers Addams support and praise for her article in Charities and the Commons.

Praise Settlement Movement

Oscar Solomon Straus to Jane Addams, December 5, 1908

Straus declines Addams' request to participate on the Committee on Immigrants of the National Conference of Charities and Correction because of his position as Secretary of Commerce and Labor.

Immigration Labor Requests Unemployment

James Bronson Reynolds to Jane Addams, December 22, 1908

Reynolds asks Addams to support a committee working to prevent extradition of radicals from the United States to Russia, where they would be persecuted.

Immigrants Politics Requests Russia

Woman's Suffrage and the Preservation of the Home, May 1909

Addams argues women's need for the vote so that they can perform their duties to family and the nation.

Hull-House Immigrants Public Health Woman Suffrage

Immigrants: Report of the Committee, June 12, 1909

Addams argues that even as immigration has caused congestion in cities, it has also brought cultural beauty, which Americans should embrace and enjoy. This speech was given at the National Conference of Charities and Correction in Buffalo on June 12, 1909.

Charity Conferences Immigrants

Why Women Should Vote, January 1910

Addams argues for women to have the vote in order that they may continue to perform their duties to family and to home in the modern world, where responsibilities, like feeding their children and keeping them safe, are no long directly within their control.

Democracy Immigrants Woman Suffrage