Women who smoke!
Jane Addams (1860-1935)
Jane Addams, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-95722)
The National Women’s History Museum is working to build a museum in Washington D.C. dedicated to the history of the struggles and achievements of American women. Though the museum has no physical home, its “cyber-museum” is full of enlightening and inspiring stories. Every school girl and boy in America should know who Jane Addams was: winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, inventor of urban sociology, and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union. She was one of the most successful and relentless advocates for women’s rights this country has ever known. The following comes from the NWHM’s cyber-museum.
“Jane Addams, social reformer and peace activist, led the American settlement house movement, founding its most famous settlement, Chicago’s Hull House (1889).
Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois in 1860 and graduated from Rockville College in 1882. In 1889, she founded Chicago’s Hull House, where she lived and worked until her death in 1935. A home and gathering place for reformers who “settled” in the neighborhoods they served, settlements brought a broad range of social services to immigrants and the urban poor. Believing settlements were a space where all classes could meet to solve problems of urban industrialization, Addams assembled a cohort of brilliant women around her whose innovative solutions shaped 20th century social policy.
Responding to community needs, the women of Hull House pioneered in bringing social services to immigrant and working class neighborhoods. They set up day care for children, founded playgrounds, delivered health services, and studied toxic substances in factories. They investigated slums (founding the profession of urban sociology), brought about passage of factory inspections, pushed for ending child labor, improved tenement conditions and sweatshops, fought for shorter hours, higher wages, protective labor laws, and established the nation’s first juvenile court.
An outspoken supporter of labor, Addams was also a gifted lecturer and prolific writer. Her most famous book was Twenty Years at Hull House (1910). A staunch suffrage supporter, she was Vice President of the NAWSA, and wrote and spoke widely about the vote’s importance to women. She founded and chaired the Woman’s Peace Party (1915), was first president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (1919), and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1931) for her years of peace activism. The abridgment of civil liberties and attacks on pacifists in World War I (she was vilified as a traitor for opposing the war), led Addams to help found the American Civil Liberties Union (1920). She died at 74, her work for social justice having impacted every aspect of American life.”
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
BigCatLover 11.30.08 at 10:01 am
Repost from downstairs
Someone commented last night that the Republicans would never allow the constitution to be changed to allow non natural born citizens to become President. First you have to understand that everyting is up for negotiation with politicians (in other words, what will you give me if I support you), and Secondly, they have their own candidate who is not natural born that they would like to run for president - Arnold Schwarzenagger. Don’t rely on the repubs to protect he constitution because they’ve been trying to open it for revision for 30 years.
BigCatLover 11.30.08 at 10:04 am
Unfortunately, since she was the founder of the ACLU, there would be strong opposition to any attempt to celebrate her. The conservatives have demonized the ACLU in the eyes of alot of Americans, even though it represents pure American supposed ideals.
BigCatLover 11.30.08 at 10:07 am
Ok,since no one else is here, I’m going to go read some of the other blogs on the right of the page. BBL
NObamaDem 11.30.08 at 10:18 am
This is interesting. Michelle O is ‘distraught’ about an apparent tic in Obutt’s face that has become permanent in nature.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=82364
I noticed that tic some time ago during his debates with Hillary. It seemed to appear when she was thrashing his ass and he was put off by her daring to question his highness’ mightiness and grandeur.
BigCatLover 11.30.08 at 10:18 am
The Real Barack Obama has an interesting story on why India reported that ther were only 10 terrorists that attacked Mumbai. It’s the second story on the page:
http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/
And the photo at the top of the page is perfect for a Sunday morning.
BigCatLover 11.30.08 at 10:21 am
NObamaDem 11.30.08 at 10:18 am
I had a coworker who developed facial tics after over exercising around the holidays. She was told to stop exercising and hopefully the tic (bells palsy) would clear up. It did but I know she could not stop over-working out because she was addicted, just like the Obamas.
Anna Belle 11.30.08 at 10:29 am
I love Jane Addams. Great choice. The mother of modern social work, she was. Did you know that her’s was a change that almost didn’t happen? She was enormously influential after the success of Hull House, and she and her cohorts effected enormous change in our nation, especially social policy that effected women and children, as well as other oppressed groups subject to institutional abuse.
Anyway, as a young adult she fell victim to a general malaise that effected a lot of middle class and upper class women. The symptoms included fatigue and depression, then called female hysteria. To this day there is no medical explanation for what millions of women suffered, and for which they were prescribed remedies from fresh air and sunshine to cliteradectomies (the prevailing medical wisdom at the time being that it was their femaleness that drove them crazy). I believe it was the natural result of vibrant, intelligent women being denied the opportunity to genuinely participate in the world in meaningful ways, especially unmarried women, as this condition effected them disproportionately.
Addams family spent some time trying to address her issues with exposure to sunshine and fresh air, but it wasn’t until she found her purpose in life, her work for the growing masses of common American folk, that she overcame her condition. From that point on she was that vibrant, intelligent, workhorse we know her to be from history. A robust woman, she worked tirelessly hand in hand with other women to create justice in this world. In doing so, she offered hope not only to those her organizations and ideas serviced, but also those with whom she worked to provide that justice.
Thank you for honoring her memory today, Murphy.
gypsy rebel 11.30.08 at 10:31 am
I heard from Slyt2 about her sister in Mumbai
“She (her sister) is ok but yes she is just staying in her hotel room to afraid to leave until she has to go to the job.
She is trying to see if her boss is going to let her leave otherwise it won’t be untill Dec 7th. But tell everyone so far so good and thank you very much for all the thoughts and prays going out. I will try to get on in a bit,
DancesWithPumas 11.30.08 at 10:38 am
Give Women’s History a Home Next to the National Mall
In a year when many women have made history, Members of Congress have the opportunity to recognize women’s successes by passing House Resolution (H.R.) 6548 and Senate bill S. 3528, giving the National Women’s History Museum a permanent home.
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) introduced H.R. 6548 with bipartisan support on July 17, 2008. On September, 22, 2008, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced S. 3528 with bipartisan support.
Now, we’ve launched the Right Here, Right Now campaign so that you can make your voice heard on Capitol Hill. Help us urge Congress to pass H.R. 6548 and S. 3528 immediately.
http://www.nwhm.org/
Tell Congress to pass H.R. 6548 now
Write Your Legislators
http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=nwhm
GoPumaGo 11.30.08 at 10:41 am
Jane Addams (1860-1935). She died in 1935. That is over 70 years ago. She did much of her work 100 years ago. Are we making progress or sliding backwards. Where the hell is the permanent equality. Even the former black slaves have elected a president. That is because the black people stick together. notice how way over 90 to 95% voted for their own.
As women we unmercifully attack each other and sell each other down the drain. Even N.O.W. is divisive.
THE PROBLEM IS US. We have to find a way to unite women and stop the fighting. We have to recognize sexism. We had prominent women supporting Obama the abuser and these women would attack Hillary and Palin. WTF is wrong with US. We must not expect any other group to solve our problem. we must solve our own problem.
The first steps in solving our own probem is recognizing we have the problem and then staying focused on the problem and not be off in left field solving other problems. that becomes a diversion so that we never really work on the key problem of getting women unified to fight for equality. we have to keep our eyes on the prize and always be working toward the goal of equality. we need a good game plan and a great execution of the game plan.
we need to educate every little girl growing up. we need to keep every woman fully informed and on target to the goal. We have a big job to do. This is not going to happen over night.
I believe PUMA is the place to accomplish the breaking of the glass ceiling. We are united and we get along really well. not perfectly but very very well. We have the making of the core group of women who can carry the ball over the goal line. There are many outstanding women right here every day logged into PUMA. We have the tremendous tool of the internet to unite us all in the one cause. I really see the internet as so incredibly powerful for our cause. The organization and logistics we have accomplished via this quick and easy communication is revolutionary.
Go Puma Go
DancesWithPumas 11.30.08 at 10:46 am
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we often might win, by fearing to attempt.”
– Jane Addams
scathcart 11.30.08 at 10:46 am
Good morning Pumas, This is great song for those of us interested in BC. From http://www.patriotmusiconline.com/home_page.html. “Where were you born” by Chris Miller
admin 11.30.08 at 10:48 am
gopumago — abso-frickin-lutely. My mission in life is to see a woman elected president in this country before I die. That is it. To that end there are three things that we must IMMEDIATELY work to achieve:
1. A women’s rights curriculum in every public school in the USA, documenting the struggles and accomplishments of people like Jane Addams. You are 100% correct Gopuma — Jane Addams seems like a woman from the FUTURE in this crazed world. She’s not a throwback; she’s the way forward. I’ll bet you $100 that fewer than 5% of American women have ever heard the name Jane Addams.
2. Legislation making sexual assault a hate crime and misogynistic language hate speech. And relentless objection to the misogyny in the SCFP.
3. Publishing books and giving lectures to young women — showing them the way to be president.
admin 11.30.08 at 10:51 am
Today’s quote of the day:
” Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we often might win, by fearing to attempt.” — Jane Addams.
this is an excellent resource:
http://creativequotations.com/women-az.html
over 200 women in all aspects of life.
I sent it to actioncenter@pumapac.org bc I’m good like that.
DancesWithPumas 11.30.08 at 10:52 am
Uh oh… there’s been a terrible oversight at Heidi Li’s site… Puma PAC isn’t on the blog roll. How can that be?
DancesWithPumas 11.30.08 at 10:53 am
I sent it to actioncenter@pumapac.org bc I’m good like that.
—————
You most certainly are!! and good morning to you.
admin 11.30.08 at 10:53 am
but dwp is better.
DancesWithPumas 11.30.08 at 10:57 am
admin 11.30.08 at 10:53 am
but dwp is better.
—————–
uh oh… does this mean you’re going to “gift” me with a new project?
BigCatLover 11.30.08 at 11:11 am
Was watching Donna Brazile on Stephanopolous praising Hillary Clinton and saying what a good S of S she was going to be, and she was roughky cut off by ?? Dowd (a guy, not Maureen) who impatiently cut her off to say what a hard time the new press secretary, Robert Gibbs, was going to have explaining the Clintons. Donna just shut up and did not challenge him. I don’t know if I can stand this bull sh*t anymore.
bqueen 11.30.08 at 11:18 am
How about this smokin’ vid!!
Transparency: an open letter to Barack Obama
bqueen 11.30.08 at 11:25 am
please check my last 2 comments here:
last 2 comments
I posted them late but they’re worth reading - especially the one ONCE AGAIN (informally) verifying his birthplace in kenya!
bqueen 11.30.08 at 11:26 am
oops - they’re at the very bottom of the page!
gojoyknocks 11.30.08 at 11:29 am
“History is women following behind….carrying a bucket.” A line from The History Boys. For the first time in 10 months I was able to tear myself away from political reads and enjoy a movie. Seems Jane Addams was an effective community organizer. I wonder why she never ran for President. Oh, right.
admin 11.30.08 at 11:46 am
Hillary posted.
Take it upstairs!
DancesWithPumas 11.30.08 at 11:46 am
BigCatLover 11.30.08 at 11:11 am
Was watching Donna Brazile on Stephanopolous praising Hillary Clinton and saying what a good S of S she was going to be, and she was roughky cut off by ?? Dowd (a guy, not Maureen) who impatiently cut her off to say what a hard time the new press secretary, Robert Gibbs, was going to have explaining the Clintons. Donna just shut up and did not challenge him. I don’t know if I can stand this bull sh*t anymore.
————————
Matthew Dowd — former bushcheney strategist
Newfiepuma 11.30.08 at 11:50 am
I never intented to sign up here but I have been lurking and reading for months. I have to admit that I did vote for Obama, I’m a 60 year old female that was originally excited about Hillary and voted for her in the primary. I was trying to get behind McCain but I could not vote for him after he announced Sarah as his running mate. I was insulted that he picked just any woman and like so many other women, she didn’t work for me. I am pro choice, and she was too far “right” for me. It made McCain look like a panderer to me, willing to do anything to win. Now, with that said, I think Obama will be our president. The natural born, bc issue is not going to stop him. I do think however that we need to work on changing the DNC. I have always been a democrat and don’t plan to embrace the republicans or their agenda. I have never been more in tune to the election before and that was because of Hillary. I raised 4 sons to respect women and now am blessed with 2 grand daughters that I want to feel no boundaries. I was so upset at the fraud of the caucuses, but I think it’s always been this way and we just weren’t paying so much attention. I also think that as a strong woman Hillary should have shouted from the rooftops about the sexism. She should have called out every newscaster, every commentator and every polital talking head and called it bullshit and demanded respect. I was upset that everyone of her surrogates tried but failed and Hillary was ever silent. I know a lot of what she said during the campaign was just “campaign talk” and now like all politicians it’s back to normal for her. I see all of us scattered in our attempts to bring a sense of reason to all this and we don’t seem to have a plan, or a single goal going forward. I know many of you are working on projects and I think it is important to point out some of the fraud, sexism and donor scandal, I don’t think that will turn many heads against Obama. I think we need to work at the root of the problem and that is the DNC and the voting system as a whole. It’s hard to believe we have such an antiquated system to elect or president and that has to be changed. The electoral system sucks, the causus sucks and the horrendous amounts of money spent on the elections is disgusting considering the state of the economy in this country. It also bothers me when you clump all Obama supporters as Bots. I’m sure there are millions that are decent Americans that were just sick of the Republican abuse we’ve endured the past eight years. I hope he does well by us but we need to be vigilant, hold his feet to the fire and not get complacent, four years will pass in no time and without changes to our system we’ll be doing this all over again. Just my thoughts…
Nijma 11.30.08 at 12:09 pm
Hull House is now a museum; I used to walk past it every day but have never been inside.
http://www.cityofchicago.org/Landmarks/H/HullHouse.html
Nijma 11.30.08 at 12:13 pm
This also suggests that Addams was gay:
http://queerestplaces.wordpress.com/2007/02/26/a-room-with-a-big-bed/
BrianH 11.30.08 at 9:06 pm
BigCatLover 11.30.08 at 10:04 am
Unfortunately, since she was the founder of the ACLU, there would be strong opposition to any attempt to celebrate her. The conservatives have demonized the ACLU in the eyes of alot of Americans, even though it represents pure American supposed ideals.//
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Like many organizations (and universities and bureaucracies) it has been “captured” Alinsky-style and turned to the uses the far left wants. It is very noticeable that the ACLU defends preferentially recipients of entitlement programs, and not resisters of bureaucratization and government overreach. Or international victims of regimes favored by the left. Or women anywhere abused within those regimes, e.g. And so on. Once upon a time it did, but no longer.
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