A Study On Jane Addams' Feminist Thoughts And Practice

From the 1890s to the 1910s,America witnessed the flourishing Progressive Movement as well as the first vigorous wave of feminist movement.It was a historic period when a variety of innovative feminist activists came onto the political stage and women's organizations proliferated.These feminists became aware of a range of sophisticated social problems that women were encountering in a modernizing America.Social feminism,stressing on the distinctive feminine culture and a stronger public action on the part of women,was one of the most important feminist ideologies that motivated these women activists and dominated the first-wave American feminist activities.During the Progressive Era,it helped promote the rise of New Women in American society,enabling them to expand their proper sphere from family to public administration and fight for their political rights.Jane Addams(1860-1935),the pioneering founder of Hull-House,tireless women activist,social reformer and pacifist,was a leading public intellectual representative of social feminism in her days.She was,however,more often interpreted by historians as a prominent social worker or pacifist rather than as a distinguished feminist.This thesis would argue that Jane's effort and progressive social thoughts in advocating for women's rights and women's interests should not be ignored or eclipsed by her general contribution to the social cause.As one of the first American women who received college education,Jane experienced the advantages and disadvantages brought by industrialization,grasping the opportunities to exert women's social values through various progressive activities in the wave of American social reform.The thesis is aimed at interpreting Jane Addams' social feminist thoughts and social activities,in hopes to re-valuate her early feminist contributions and influence in American history.