Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois. Her mother died when she was two years old. Her father was an abolitionist. In 1881 Addams graduated from Rockford Female Seminary. In 1888 she traveled to London, where she visited Toynbee Hall, which was London’s first settlement house or institution for improving living conditions in cities. This visit inspired Addams to open a settlement house in the United States. In 1889 she and Ellen Starr founded Hull House in Chicago. Addams remained the leader of Hull House for the rest of her life. Addams soon became the leader of social settlement work in the United States. In 1910 she became the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Yale. She was also the first woman elected president of the National Conference of Social Work. Addams founded the National Federation of Settlements in 1911. As a committed feminist, Addams also campaigned for the women’s suffrage movement. She was elected president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in 1919, a position she held until 1935. In 1920 Addams helped found the American Civil Liberties Union, and in 1931 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
