For the paper, write an essay that responds to the following question: How might historians of Illinois use Jane Addams’s memoir, Twenty Years at HullHouse, to illustrate the development of the state’s society, economy, and culture during the twentieth century?
In constructing your essay, ask yourself who was Jane Addams? When she wrote her memoir in 1910, what had been her life experiences? Why did Addams and Ellen Gates Starr open Hull-House in 1889? From where did Addams and Starr receive their inspiration to open Hull-House? What was the purpose of a “settlement house”? Why did Addams and Starr choose Chicago’s West Side for the settlement house? What was Addams’s relationship with Chicago’s elite business community? What was Addams’s national reputation during World War I and the 1920s? Was she a good choice for the Nobel Peace Prize that she received in 1931? What is Jane Addams’s contribution to Illinois history?
Your paper must include a thesis statement in an introduction (that answers the main question in paragraph 1, above), a body that gives evidence (from the reading) for your thesis, and a conclusion that repeats the thesis statement. Your thesis should be based upon your answers to the questions.
If you use any direct quotations or paraphrased material from the reading, put the source page number in parenthesis just after the quote or the paraphrase.
Your paper should be 5 to 7 pages in length, typewritten, double-spaced, with 12 pt. type and 1-inch margins.
Link to literature needed for the essay:
