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Womans Fight for Equal Rights

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Womans Fight for Equal Rights
Fighting for Equal Rights
Jane Addams, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Rachel Carson were four American women who advocated for social change. Their courage, intelligence, strength and leadership made a positive difference in the lives of many people. These women were pioneers in their times. They either helped to found, or lent their voices to, various social movements, policies, and causes that evolved during their lifetimes and proved successful in helping many oppressed people.
Jane Addams is most famous for her work in two major movements, the first of which is the Settlement House movement of the 1800s. Settlement houses, which first originated in England. These facilities were created in response to problems arising from immigration, urbanization, and industrialization. In America, the settlement houses were typically available for medical assistance, housing, and education to immigrants in the areas surrounding them (Izzo, 2010). Later, with the help of advocates like Addams, they began to take on new roles and more issues related to social and economic policies and conditions.
Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr founded Hull House on the West side of Chicago, IL, in 1889. It was a secular house, as opposed to those run by religious organizations. As a more progressive settlement house, along with all the other things offered, Hull House provided more than just basic needs for its attendants. It made available many services such as daycare for single working mothers, an employment bureau, and access to art and other forms of cultural education (Izzo, 2010). As an activist, and one of the earliest social workers, Addams knew it was important for the people she served to have well-rounded experiences; these helped them to be more engaged, productive members of society.
One big difference between the Settlement house movement and other organizations like it was that the settlement houses took information about the poor and underserved they



Cited: Beyl, C. (1991). Rachel carson, silent spring, and the environmental movement. Retrieved from http://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ history/lecture31/r_31.html Blau, J, & Abramovitz, M. (Ed. 3). (2010). The dynamics of social welfare policy: third edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press Carson, R. (1962). Silent spring. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Izzo, Amanda. (2001). Biographical note, the jane addams papers, sophia smith collection, smith college, northampton, mass.. Retrieved from http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmithmnsss141 bioghist.html Mission statement, women’s international league for peace and freedom. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://trianglewilpf.org/ Sicker, T, et. Al.. (n.d.). People & events: harriet tubman. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1535.html Women of the hall: elizabeth cady stanton. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// www.greatwomen.orgwomen.phpaction=viewone&id=149

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