Jane Addams was born on Sept. 6, 1860, in Cedarville, Ill. Her father, John Huy Addams, was a wealthy miller, a state senator, and a friend of Abraham Lincoln. Jane was the youngest of five children. From infancy she suffered from a slight spinal curvature. After graduation from Rockford Seminary (now Rockford College) in Illinois, her health failed, and for two years she was an invalid.

In 1883 she went abroad to travel and to study. The hunger and misery she found in the great European cities impressed her more than their famous museums or historic relics. A childhood resolve to live among the poor was confirmed by a stay at Toynbee Hall in London, the world's first social settlement (see Social Settlements).

In the fall of 1889 she settled with a school friend, Ellen Gates Starr, in a shabby old mansion on the Near West Side of Chicago among tenements and sweatshops. Their neighbors—people of a dozen races—called the place the “old Hull house” after its builder, Charles Hull. So Hull House was adopted as the name for what was to become the most famous social settlement in the United States.

At first the neighbors were suspicious and unfriendly, but they soon saw that Addams' friendliness was sincere and practical. A kindergarten and a day nursery were started. Wealthy people, university professors, students, and business executives contributed time and money to Hull House.

Hull House fed the hungry, nursed the sick, and guided the bewildered immigrant and the wayward child. Addams became a garbage inspector so that she could get the filthy streets cleaned up. She campaigned against the sweatshops and corrupt politicians. She and her associates at Hull House helped to pass the first factory legislation in Illinois and to establish in Chicago the world's first juvenile court.

Addams became one of the most deeply loved and famous Americans of her time. Universities presented her with honorary degrees. Visitors from all over the world came to see her at Hull House. Crowds in many countries heard her talk about her work.

During World War I Addams faced bitter criticism when she urged that the issues be settled by negotiation rather than by bloodshed. After the war she continued to spread her ideals as president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. In 1931 she was awarded the Nobel peace prize jointly with Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler.

For 46 years Addams managed the settlement. Starr had been forced by ill health to retire about six years before the death of Addams on May 21, 1935. At the time of her death Hull House had been expanded to cover an entire city block, with buildings centered around a courtyard. In 1961 plans were laid to tear down Hull House to make room for a Chicago campus of the University of Illinois.

Despite vehement, worldwide protests against such plans, the properties were sold in 1963. The original building, however, was preserved as a memorial to Jane Addams. Hull House settlement work has continued in new locations in Chicago.

Addams' best known writings are ‘Democracy and Social Ethics' (1902); ‘Newer Ideals of Peace' (1907); ‘The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets' (1909); ‘Twenty Years at Hull-House' (1910); ‘A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil' (1911); ‘The Second Twenty Years at Hull-House' (1930).