Jane Addams (1860 - 1935)

Co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Jane Addams is the “Mother of Social Work.” Addams established Hull House, America’s first settlement house that provided educational programming, health services, and other resources to serve underprivileged populations in Chicago. A suffragette and advocate for peace and women’s rights, she became the chair of the Women’s Peace Party and the International Conference of Women. Her writings and reforms that targeted civic corruption, child labor and racism are still relevant today. Addams enjoyed two long-term loving relationships with women - social reformer Ellen Gates Starr and philanthropist Mary Rozet Smith.