Jane Addams and Civic Housekeeping
Jane Addams and Civic Housekeeping:
Bringing Women into the Public Sphere
HIST 102: Introduction to U.S. History II
Professor Stacie Taranto
Phillip Gatto
December 5, 2013
In the early 20th century, more and more issues began to face cities of the United States. Specific issues that cities began facing more and more included the rise in poor sanitation and health concerns in local tenement housing. In order for women to gain access to the public sphere and emerge out of the private sphere, and gain some sort of status with the men of society, Jane Addams proposed the idea of “civic housekeeping” which would let women use their skills from the home in order to clean up the issues in local tenement housing and ultimately, in the local government1. Growing up in the post-Civil War era, Jane Addams was born into a wealthy family, fueled by her father’s political and business success. Jane was raised in a way, by her powerful father, John Addams, that she was instilled with a strong sense of leadership and pride. John Addams died while Jane was at a very young age of 21, and was changed emotionally for the rest of her life, and it even affected her relationships with men later in life, as she was never married. Jane was very devoted to her father and loved him very much, and their close relationship was important to Jane as she kept his memory for the entirety of her life2. While the idea of educating women in the post-Civil War time period was not very popular, Jane Addams was encouraged by her father to attend college at the Rockford Female Seminary. This encouragement was not given with love, but with the idea of John Addams expressing his power and wealth, which enabled him to send his children to college and get an education. Jane was very successful in her time at Rockford University, being an integral part of her college debate team and a huge participant in her classes3. Jane Addams, so highly educated and
Bringing Women into the Public Sphere
HIST 102: Introduction to U.S. History II
Professor Stacie Taranto
Phillip Gatto
December 5, 2013
In the early 20th century, more and more issues began to face cities of the United States. Specific issues that cities began facing more and more included the rise in poor sanitation and health concerns in local tenement housing. In order for women to gain access to the public sphere and emerge out of the private sphere, and gain some sort of status with the men of society, Jane Addams proposed the idea of “civic housekeeping” which would let women use their skills from the home in order to clean up the issues in local tenement housing and ultimately, in the local government1. Growing up in the post-Civil War era, Jane Addams was born into a wealthy family, fueled by her father’s political and business success. Jane was raised in a way, by her powerful father, John Addams, that she was instilled with a strong sense of leadership and pride. John Addams died while Jane was at a very young age of 21, and was changed emotionally for the rest of her life, and it even affected her relationships with men later in life, as she was never married. Jane was very devoted to her father and loved him very much, and their close relationship was important to Jane as she kept his memory for the entirety of her life2. While the idea of educating women in the post-Civil War time period was not very popular, Jane Addams was encouraged by her father to attend college at the Rockford Female Seminary. This encouragement was not given with love, but with the idea of John Addams expressing his power and wealth, which enabled him to send his children to college and get an education. Jane was very successful in her time at Rockford University, being an integral part of her college debate team and a huge participant in her classes3. Jane Addams, so highly educated and
Bibliography: Addams, Jane. The modern city and the municipal franchise for women. Baltimore, Maryland: National American Women Suffrage Association, 1906. (Jane Addams Article from Moodle Site) Hamington, Maurice. "Two Leaders, Two Utopias: Jane Addams and Dorothy Day." NWSA Journal 19.2 (2007): 159-186. JSTOR. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Shields, Patricia M.. "Democracy and the Social Feminist Ethics of Jane Addams: A Vision for Public Administration." Administrative Theory and Praxis 28.3 (2006): 418-443. JSTOR. Web 3 Dec. 2013. Conway, Jill. "Jane Addams: An American Heroine." Daedalus 93, no. 2 (1964): 761-780. JSTOR. Web 3 Dec. 2013