Jane Addams
Jane Addams Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois on September 6, 1860,and the eighth of nine children. Her father, John Addams, was a prosperous miller and local political leader who served for sixteen years as a state senator and fought as an officer in the Civil War, he was a friend of Abraham Lincoln. Jane's mother dies when she was only two. Her father remarried and her new stepmother brought along two new stepbrothers to add to the already large family. With the fact of Jane's mother passing away she was especially devoted to her father, her father became her idol (Jane 1). He taught her tolerance, philanthropy, and strong work ethic (Biography 2). He encouraged her to pursue higher education but not at the cost of losing her femininity and the prospect of marriage and motherhood (Biography 2). She was born Laura Jane Addams and was named after Mrs. Laura Jane Forbes, an intelligent young woman who had taught private school in the village before she married Colonel H.C. Forbes. Soon her siblings were calling her Jenny: for most "Jane's" were "Jenny's" then, so soon after the gala concert tour of Jenny Lind, "the Swedish Nightingale." When Jenny was 2 years old she was still sleeping with her mother, who died while giv
ing birth to her ninth child. This brought great sorrow to the town of Cedarville because Jane's mother was very well liked in the town, usually being the first to the bedside of the sick or invalid and a great comfort to all of the townspeople (Wise, 16). Although Jane's mother lost 4 children at a very young age she had five healthy ones survive. The oldest was Mary, who cared for all the children, then Martha, Webber, Alice, and Jenny the baby of the family (Jane). When their father went to Springfield for the state legislature Mary wrote to him often telling him about the children and the quickly spreading scarlet fever. In one such letter Jane wondered when her thumb would grow as long as she would other fingers (Wise, 17). A later letter from Mary carried the grave news that Jane was struck with Typhoid fever and tuberculosis of the spine. This left her dark, curly hair straight and her body fragile and emaciated. Jane loved her family but was especially attached to her father. She was often found trying to be just like her father by rubbing things on her fingers to get a "mill thumb" like her father had. Jane attended the Rockford Seminary for young ladies and excelled in her studies. She developed very strong leadership traits and her classmates admired her and followed her examples (Biography 1). In 1881, Jane graduated form the Rockford Female Seminary. She was valedictorian of her class of 17 (Biography 1). Jane then decided that she wanted to pursue a degree in medicine. This choice caused a great stir in the Addams household. Her parents felt that she had had enough education and they were concerned that she would never get married or have a family, which this was expected of all upper-class young ladies at that point in time. Jane became despondent. She was striving for more out of her life. She believed that if her brother s could have careers in medicine and science, why not her? Jane hated household duties. Getting married or raising children did not appeal to her at all. With this Jane h
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Approximate Word count = 1360
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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