Honoring Jane Addams, Hull House Founder and First American Woman to Win Nobel Peace Prize
2025-12-09
Hers is a familiar name in Illinois, celebrated in a museum, a college in Chicago, a university in Rockford, at least two parks and 77 miles of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) connecting Rockford to Chicago.
But who was Jane Addams?
And why is she still remembered in the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, the Jane Addams College of Social Work, the Addams Park along Lake Michigan in Chicago and the Jane Addams Center for Civic Engagement at Rockford University?
In a word, she was trailblazing.
On December 10, 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her decades of work as a pioneering social worker, peace activist and advocate for children, women, immigrants and the poor.
From her perch in Chicago, where she co-founded a revolutionary “settlement house” that offered a multitude of educational and cultural opportunities for immigrant communities, she tirelessly advocated for social reform.
“In the poorest districts of Chicago, among Polish, Italian, Mexican and other immigrants, she has established and maintained the vast social organization centered in Hull House,” said Halvdan Koht, a member of the Nobel Committee, in remarks when announcing the Peace Prize in 1931. “Here young and old alike, in fact all who ask, receive a helping hand whether they wish to educate themselves to find work… From this social work, often carried on among people of different nationalities, it was for her only a natural step to the cause of peace.”
Addams won worldwide fame and acclaim during her lifetime, and her legacy continues to expand today – with special remembrances in Chicago, her adopted hometown, and Rockford, where she attended college.
Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois, just north of Freeport, on September 6, 1860. She graduated from what is now Rockford University, then spent time traveling around the world while deeply considering what a life of service would look like before returning to Illinois and founding Hull House in 1889 with Ellen Gates Starr (a fellow Rockford University alumnae).
Located in what is now the University Village area of Chicago, Hull House became the country’s most influential social settlement. It expanded to include 13 buildings and offered a dizzying array of programs and services: a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, public baths, day-care facilities, kindergartens, the first playground in the city of Chicago, an employment bureau, an art gallery, libraries, English and citizenship courses and theatre, music and art classes.
At the same time, Addams and her partners wrote pamphlets and books, marched and gave speeches and otherwise lobbied for numerous causes, such as the abolition of child labor, the rights of workers and immigrants, women’s suffrage and improvements to public health.
In 1915, she was named chair of the Women’s Peace Party, and she later served as president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
She died four years after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, at the age of 74. But her legacy continued to expand decades after her death.
In 2007, the Illinois Legislature adopted a joint resolution to honor Addams and requested that the Illinois Tollway rename the then Northwest Tollway (I-90) in her honor. That same year, the Tollway Board of Directors voted to rename the Tollway after Addams citing her “dedication to the rights of women and children, and international efforts for world peace.”