Twenty Years At Hull-House

by Jane Addams

Overview

'Twenty Years at Hull-House, with autobiographical notes, the most well-known Settlement House in America is the novel of a 1910 book by Hull-House founder and prominent Progressive Era reformer Jane Addams. Her most popular book was Addams' autobiographical narrative of her efforts to ameliorate living circumstances for working-class immigrants in Chicago's West Side slums. This book, which is a new instructional version of Twenty Years at Hull-House, is a great opportunity to introduce students to one of America's most well-known women and a pioneer of the Progressive movement. In 1883, Jane Addams witnessed a distressing scene in London; she wanted to replicate the experiment in the U.S. In 1889, Addams and her friend Ellen Starr moved into a rundown mansion in Chicago's West Side. In the urban industrial areas, Hull-House was envisioned as a "hub for a higher civic and social life." The energy of the first generation of female college graduates found a home in Hull-House. Addams embraced the sexual stereotypes of her day and soothed public fears by acting primarily in the roles of nurturer and caregiver. Although Addams' writing can at times be challenging to understand, her beliefs and actions are genuinely admirable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789357274180
Publisher:	Double 9 Books
Publication date:	12/26/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	796 KB

Table of Contents

Preface     v
Earliest Impressions     1
Influence of Lincoln     16
Boarding-School Ideals     29
The Snare of Preparation     43
First Days at Hull-House     58
Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements     74
Some Early Undertakings at Hull-House     85
Problems of Poverty     102
A Decade of Economic Discussion     116
Pioneer Labor Legislation in Illinois     129
Immigrants and Their Children     149
Tolstoyism     166
Public Activities and Investigations     180
Civic Cooperation     198
The Value of Social Clubs     218
Arts at Hull-House     236
Echoes of the Russian Revolution     255
Socialized Education     272

What People are Saying About This

Frances Perkins

"Should be framed and revealed as the beauty of the cultural life and spiritual value of the immigrant at the time when nothing would so despised and unconsidered an American life as the foreigner."

Kathryn Kish Sklar

One of the most important books ever written in the United States, Twenty Years at Hull-House remains a classic because it addresses large questions of human destiny and social justice in terms that are as relevant today as they were one hundred years ago.
—(Kathryn Kish Sklar, author of Catherine Beecher: A Study in American Domesticity)

Berenice Carroll

Twenty Years at Hull-House is an indispensable classic of American intellectual and social history, and remains a rich source of provocative social theory. Jane Addams was both an activist of courage and "a thinker of originality and daring." Her life and writings exemplify the integration of social thought and action. Addams and her associates at Hull-House had wide-ranging influence not only on the key reform movements of the time but also on major currents of philosophical, sociological, and political thought. Filled with careful empirical observations, perceptions on everyday life, accounts of practical action, and prescriptions for public policy, this small volume also embodies such important theoretical contributions as "The Necessity for Social Settlements," "A Decade of Economic Discussion," "Tolstoyism," and "Problems of Poverty." Long acclaimed for its autobiographical and historical value, Twenty Years at Hull-House should be read today as much for its enduring insights, critical analyses, and persuasive vision.
—(Berenice A. Carroll, editor of Liberating Women's History: Theoretical and Critical Essays)

Marian Parks

"For the helpless, young and old, for the poor, the unlearned, the strangers, the despised, we have urged understanding and injustice."

Editorial Reviews

The Turgenev standby gets a facelift for the 1990s, thanks to translator Katz, professor of Russian and director of the Center for Post-Soviet and East European Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. The growing popularity of new translations of Russian classics, such as the recent Notes from Underground (Classic Returns, LJ 7/93), should induce interest in Turgenev's work. For public and academic libraries.

Library Journal

Jane Addams' narrative of life in an immigrant urban neighborhood provides students with an introduction to issues of the Progressive era and the tenets of social activism. This teaching edition reduces Addams' text by about 35 percent, to focus on ideological underpinnings of the original work. Includes a brief biographical portrait of Addams, and outlines her convictions that led her to found Hull House. Includes related documents, with discussion questions, plus a chronology and b&w photos. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

Booknews