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How Did Jane Addams Contribute To Women's Rights

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4/9/16

Jane Addams won worldwide recognition in the first third of the twentieth century as a pioneer social worker in America, as a feminist, and as an internationalist. But that was only one level of her achievements. She created the foundations for the profession of social work, contributed significantly to the discipline of sociology, developed the idea of parks and playgrounds as places vital for reducing urban tension, and established a model of progressive-minded activism which helped form the basis of the welfare state. She played a huge roll in the fight to gain women's rights in the early 1900’s. Before the 19th amendment, women were viewed as housewives, many people believed that women could not do most things men could …show more content…

Addams felt that she had to step up at a time where women were not viewed as leaders and were not given any respect. Addams later became the first woman to win the nobel peace prize for all of her hard work. She won the prize for not only her work with women’s right but for her work with the hull house as well. Addams and Starr made speeches about the needs of the neighborhood, raised money, convinced young women of well-to-do families to help, took care of children, nursed the sick, listened to outpourings from troubled people. “after the war, women met again. They renamed the organization the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. The international group is still based in Geneva and has offices around the world. Addams' commitment to the needs of others and her international efforts for peace were recognized in 1931 when she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. If she were alive today, Knight says, Addams would urge women around the world to come together and organize themselves as a force for peace.Addams did not define peace as the absence of war, she defined it as, the unfolding of worldwide processes making for the nurture of human life," Knight says. And what she really meant by that was that it was a mistake to see some people as inferior whether based on their gender, or based on their ethnicity or …show more content…

Jane addams had life struggles just like everyone else. In an article it says, “With World War 1 on her hands she felt guilty. After the war ended she went over to Europe to help the wounded. As why this is a problem, America was displeased by Jane’s choice of helping Europe. On the other hand, many other countries admired Jane. America called Jane a coward and a traitor. Her choice had America thinking she was disloyal. That struggle had Jane feeling low with all those beliefs and rumors. A year or two later this act was forgotten. Publicly opposed to America's entry into the war, Miss Addams was attacked in the press and expelled from the Daughters of the American Revolution, but she found an outlet for her humanitarian impulses as an assistant to Herbert Hoover in providing relief supplies of food to the women and children of the enemy nations.” This just goes to show that although she did amazing things with her life she did not get a free pass in the real world and had to deal with life just like everyone

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