Notable Lesbians
This week’s Notable Lesbian is:
Laura Jane Addams
September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935
Laura Addams was a founder of the U.S. Settlement House Movement and the first American
woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Born in Cedarville, Illinois, she was the eighth of nine children born into a prosperous miller family. Her father was future state senator John H. Addams. She was first cousin twice removed to Charles Addams, noted macabre cartoonist for The New Yorker. In 1889 Addams and her friend, Ellen Gates Starr co-founded Hull House in Chicago, Illinois, one of the first settlement houses in the United States. At its height, Hull House was visited each week by around two thousand people. Its facilities included a night school for adults, kindergarten classes, clubs for older children, a public kitchen, an art gallery, a coffeehouse, a gymnasium, a girls club, a swimming pool, a book bindery, a music school, a drama group, a library, and labor-related divisions. She is probably most remembered for her adult night school, a forerunner of the continuing education classes offered by many community colleges today.
Interesting tid bit:
Addams was a member of the NAACP, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and the first vice-president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1911. She was also actively involved with Pi Gamma Mu, the social science honor society, from the 1920s until her death, because of its emphasis on social service and the humanization of the social science disciplines. The Jane Addams Peace Association together with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom give the annual Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards to children’s books that promote peace, equality, multiculturalism, and peaceful solutions.
Don’t forget about the Lez Keep it Real Contest! It’s still going on people because I haven’t had enough submissions. Submit and you can win!
More Notable Lesbians
If you have a suggestion for a Notable Lesbian, e-maill me at lyndsey.darcangelo@451press.net or use the contact form above and I’ll highlight her in an upcoming post.
*Some information provided by Wikipedia.com
Hull House, Laura Jane Addams, Charles Addams, Nobel Peace Prize, Ellen Gates Starr, Notable Lesbians
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