The large number of immigrants coming into the country at the turn of the century led to crowded living conditions in city tenements.
While Jane Addams was on a trip abroad in the 1880s, she was horrified to watch the sale of decaying fruits and vegetables to the poor. After visiting Toynbee Hall, the world’s first settlement house located in an impoverished section of London, England, she was inspired by the progressive work being done there.
Addams realized that America had its share of poverty-stricken areas. In her home state of Illinois, the city of Chicago had grown quickly in the second half of the 1800s. Its rapid industrial growth had attracted large numbers of immigrants. Many of the newcomers lived in overcrowded conditions. With her friend Ellen Gates Starr, Addams decided to establish a residence in which privileged young women like her would get to know and assist working-class immigrants by living and working among them.
The two women found and fixed up a rundown mansion that had been built by Charles J. Hull, an early Chicago pioneer. The house was located in an immigrant neighborhood that was lean on resources but rich in spirit and culture. In September 1889, Addams and Starr moved into HullHouse. It was Chicago’s first settlement house and one of the first such places to be established in the United States.
Immigrants faced many difficulties. Few spoke English. They often were unable to find work or took the most menial, low-paying jobs. Entire families, including children, worked for pennies a day in factories. Few homes had indoor water or plumbing.
This story is from the April 2017 edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
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This story is from the April 2017 edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
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Putting the Pieces Together
Americans needed to begin to put the past behind them, come together, and plan for the future in the spring of 1865. But Abraham Lincoln, the man best equipped to lead them and who had hoped to restore the country as smoothly and peacefully as possible, had been assassinated.
LAST SHOTS
The last Confederate forces in the Civil War didn’t surrender in the spring of 1865 or on a battlefield.
AND IN OTHER 1865 NEWS
A group of African Americans stop at the White House’s annual public reception on January 1, where they shake hands with President Abraham Lincoln.
A Plot to Kill President the
For several months, actor John Wilkes Booth’s band of conspirators had plotted to capture President Abraham Lincoln and hold him hostage in exchange for Confederate prisoners.
Let the Thing Be Pressed
In June 1864, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant began a nearly 10-month campaign in Virginia.
HEALING THE NATION
President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for the second time on March 4, 1865.
A Helping Hand
The spring season is hard in any agricultural society. Plants and animals are too small to eat.
WAR SHERMAN-STYLE
As far as Union Major General William T. Sherman was concerned, the Civil War had gone on long enough.
PEACE TALKS
The fall of Fort Fisher made clear that the Confederacy’s days were numbered. Southerners were tired and hungry.
FORT FISHER'S FALL
Outnumbered Confederate soldiers inside Fort Fisher were unable to withstand the approach of Union troops by land and the constant Union naval bombardment from the sea.
