Progressive Era Reforms, the Women of Hull-House, & Connections to Now Kim White, EdD, MSW, LCSW [email protected] Kim White, EdD, MSW, LCSW • US Navy 1994-1998 • High school English teacher • MSW 2005 from University of Kansas • EdD from Marshall University 2018 • Mom, wife, daughter, co-worker, friend • NASW Board of Directors 2010-2016 • President, 2014-2016 • WV Social Worker of the Year 2016 • NASWAC committee/chair several years Disclaimers My Why… • How much change should we expect from individuals within context of environment, systems? Person in Environment Social Work and Ecological Social Policy perspective Social Justice Scottish Model of Social Work NASW Mission of Social Work 1996 • • Time & Place—1890s-1920s Post Civil War Turn of the Reconstruction Gilded Age America century Industrial Progressive Era Chicago Revolution Progressive Era 1890-1920 • Period of Reform • Female political culture • Progressive Party Platform Industrial Revolution • Industrialization-Welfare Hypothesis: framework for understanding new role of government taking shape during Progressive Era in response to industrialization which was to assume welfare functions once address by the family, church, community, and neighbors (Chapin, 2017, p. 153) “So confident do overworked mothers become that their children cannot get hurt.” -- Jane Addams Urbanization--Densely populated cities- disease spread; Tenement housing, poor sanitation; melting-pot (political ideologies i.e. capitalism/socialism, ethnicity, religious and cultural traditions) Chicago 1893— “The Panic” 1894—Pullman Strike 1893--World Columbian Exposition World Fair Theme was “The White City” Started in 1884 England in a slum in East London by Samuel Barnett, a “Canon in the Anglican Church” with purpose to reduce “class misunderstandings and suspicion” between the social classes (Stebner, 1997, p. 29). English model directed by men placing Settlement emphasis on individual responsibility, moral House basis for poverty, evidenced in poor laws (Stebner, 1997). Movement American movement led by women with a focus on the social environment and conditions created by lack of policy addressing human needs, particularly those of working men, women and children (Stebner,1997). Women—relegated to private domain • Dating back 3000 years, Western cultural depictions of women who attempt to use their voice in public domain. • Cassandra • The gift of prophesy, the curse of never being believed. • Essay written by Jane Addams Expectation of • • Women in the Victorian Age • Expectations vs. Reality Family vs. Social Claim • Family—stay home, tend to family • Social—”The revolt of the daughters” (Knight, 2005, p. 257). The Snare of City Housekeeping Preparation • Cities no longer settle disputes with brute force and men who bear arms. City management=extended housekeeping/human growth and development; women have a stake and a share in city management (Elshtain, 2002, p. 164). Women’s Way of Organizing Networking and the Value of Social Clubs Friendships • “A self realized through friendships” (Elshtain, 2002, p. 153). • “Fellowship as an icon of true democracy” (historian Henry Liebowitz as quoted in Elshtain, p. 153). Barnett’s Theory of Cooperation Hull House 800 South Halstead St. Chicago, IL A House and a Home 1889-2012 Hull-House Philosophy A movement away from traditional “charity work” (Elshtain, 2002, p. 94). Building a “democratic culture,” not just tend to impoverishment and deprivation but Create citizens not clients. Do so through culture, gathering, the intermingling of the social classes to break down artificial and man-made barriers. Maps and Papers Hull-House Firsts (Elshtain, 2002) • First Social Settlement in Chicago • First public kitchen in Chicago • First Social Settlement in US with • First college extension courses in male & female residents Chicago • First public baths in Chicago • First free art exhibits in Chicago • First public playground in Chicago • First fresh-air school in Chicago • First public gymnasium in Chicago • First public swimming pool in • First Little theater in the US Chicago • First citizenship prep classes in the • First Boy Scout troop in Chicago US Hull House Firsts continued Initiated investigations for Labor unions organized at first time in Chicago of Hull House: • Truancy, typhoid fever, • Women Shirt Makers, sanitation, TB, midwifery, Dorcas Federal Labor infant mortality Union, Women Cloak Makers, Chicago Woman’s Trade Union League Programs • In May 1893 one thousand people, one hundred of them volunteers were coming weekly to participate in HH activities (Knight, p. 275) • Hull House Annual Yearbook September 1906-1907 Impact • Hilda Satt Polacheck, I came a Stranger: Story of a Hull-House Girl 1950 • “America has not yet awakened to the realization of what it owes to Jane Addams” (Brown, 1910/1999, p. 246). Jane Addams 1860-1935 • Co-Founder of Hull House • Social reformer/mediator, avoided labels, author/essayist/presenter • Ideological journey from elitism to egalitarianism, from hero to social servant (Brown, 1999, p. 4) • 1910, First woman to earn honorary degree from Yale. • In 1913, in a poll conducted by The Independent of the “most useful Americans” Jane Addams ranked second behind Thomas Edison (Brown, 1999, p. 3) • 1931, first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for organizing peace movement on an international scale opposing WWI and militarization. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND Ellen Gates Starr 1859-1940 • Hull-House Co-Founder • Resided at HH for 30 years (1891-1920) • Committed to art, religion, and labor movement as “spiritual justice.” • “I’m a socialist because I’m a Christian” (Stebner, p. 88). • Arrested many times during labor protests; seen as a radical—with a difficult temperament—by the younger HH residents. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA Julia Lathrop (1958- 1932) • Inner circle of Hull-House • Resident of HH from 1890-1912 • Diplomatic approach, not afraid to nudge • Founding member of National Mental Hygiene Society • Helped draft and lobby legislation establishing first Juvenile Drug Court • 1912, Chief of Children’s Bureau, first woman bureau chief in federal government; appointed by President Taft. Prioritized child welfare and juvenile delinquency. • 1921, Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act—1st federally funded social welfare measure in the US “If the government can have a department to take such an interest in cotton crop, why can’t it have a bureau to look after the nation’s child crop?” Florence Kelley 1859-1932 • Social Reformer • Hull-House from 1891-1899 • Labor Rights Advocate • Child Welfare Advocate • Socialist • Pacifist • “Low wages produce more poverty than all other causes together” (Bobick, 2015, p. 83) This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA • By 1896, Dr. Rice was 1 of 115 Black doctors in the US • 1893 at age 27, Dr. Rice came to work at Hull-House in the dispensary project, the first African-American resident at HH. • Provided care for working poor. • Experienced bigotry—denied service through American Red Cross • Went to France in 1915-1918 to help with war effort. • 1919 awarded Medal of French Gratitude for administering care to French soldiers. • Contributions of Black women in US and abroad one of the least researched and publicly presented topics of WWI history Harriet Rice (1866-1958) Alice Hamilton, MD 1869-1970 • HH inner circle • Lived at Hull House over 20 years. Arrived 1897 age 28, left at age 50. • Physician/Researcher • 1908—Appointed to Commission on Occupational Disease—oversaw large study on industrial use of lead, hazardous conditions, ill workers. • 1910—Employed by US Labor Department • 1919—First woman appointed to faculty position Harvard Medical • 1924-1930—only female member of League of This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND Nations Health Committee Grace Abbot (1878-1939) • HH from 1908-1918 • Julia Lathrop’s “chosen successor” at the Children’s Bureau in 1920 • 1912 successfully lobbied President Taft to veto an act that required literacy tests for immigrants to enter the country • Wrote for the Chicago Evening Post—expose about “lost immigrant girls” who came to America, didn’t speak English and were forced into prostitution and slave labor led to • Director, Immigrants Protective League, national leader on matters related to immigration • Implemented Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act • 1924 led effort to amend Constitution to prohibit child labor. Edith Abbot (1876- 1957) • HH resident 1908-1918 • 1910 published Women in Industry • 1910 faculty appointment to Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy • 1912, The Delinquent Child and the Home • 1917, Truancy and non-attendance in the Chicago Public Schools • 1920, moved to Graduate School of Social Service Administration • 1924, Abbot made Dean of the graduate school, the first in social work to be part of a research university • 1931, Social Welfare and Professional Education “I could write the report and assemble the facts, but Grace had the gift of applying the proper legislative remedy.” Our time/context Female leadership in WV Social systems/services in WV Your Citizens or Clients? Thoughts… Other comparisons/connections What barriers are in place to prevent social reform, particularly on part of social workers? What keeps us focused on changing the individual versus changing social structures? References Addams, J. (1881). Cassandra. Essays of Class of 1881. Rockford Seminary. Retrieved May 5,