ericadawn16 | Jun. 23rd, 2010

I feel ashamed that I'd never heard of Jane Addams before seeing this quote at Epcot. Her quote was placed in the same room as Cesar Chavez and the founding fathers. In fact, Jane Addams was the first woman from the United States to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In 109 years, only TWO females from the United States have ever won it.

Addams was born into a rich family in Illinois in 1860. Her father was a founding member of the Illinois chapter of the Republican party and was a state senator for sixteen years. Also, yes, Charles Addams was her distant cousin.

All her life, Addams wanted to help others but she was forced to quit medical school after back problems and battling depression. Still, she didn't give up. She still sought a way to help others. In 1889, she used her own savings to open a home for the poor where they could live, take classes, find jobs and have a place to leave their children while they were at work. It even included a coffeehouse and art gallery. As if that wasn't busy enough, she was a member of many civic organizations and local politics. Addams was even official garbage inspector of the nineteenth ward at one point. Then, in 1910, Yale University gave her an honorary degree...the first time they had ever given one to a woman. Her efforts also led to national child labor laws.

Addams supported the Progressive Party which was founded by none other than our 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt although he would later refer to her as a "hysterical pacifist". In 1919, she became President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom which she had also helped found. She was an advocate of rights for everyone regardless of race or gender or age or sexual orientation, especially the poor and immigrants and she spoke out against war, including World War 1. For this, she was called "unpatriotic" and expelled from the Daughters of the American Revolution. One writer in that period suggested that Addams needed a a strong, forceful husband who would lift the burden of fate from her shoulders and get her intensely interested in fancy work and other things dear to the hear of women who have homes and plenty of time on their hands while another called her the most dangerous woman in the country. Addams helped found the American Civil Liberties Union with others who shared her beliefs, was also a charter member of the NAACP and ensured that the defeated nations were given relief supplies. Addams died from cancer in 1935, leaving behind a life-partner of over forty years, Mary Rozet Smith.

Come on, founder of the ACLU? Nobel Peace Prize winner? Charter member of the NAACP? Humanitarian? Lesbian? How much more awesome can one person be?
And we never hear about her...it's a terrible shame.