Facing Death Twice: Lawyer Francis J. Heney

This is the last in Sara Catherine Lichon’s series of blog posts about interesting characters that she came across while working as a co-operative education student for the Project this semester. Her work involves identifying and describing the over 5,000 unique individuals mentioned in Addams’ correspondence. Life in law can often be exciting, especially when …

Poet and Con-Artist: The Story of Scharmel Iris

Sara Catherine Lichon is writing a series of blog posts about interesting characters that she comes across while working as a co-operative education student for the Project this semester. Her work involves identifying and describing the over 5,000 unique individuals mentioned in Addams’ correspondence. As a student, I’ve heard many a time that academic honesty …

Behind Closed Doors: The Divorce Case of Dr. Lydia Allen DeVilbiss

Dr. Lydia Allen DeVilbiss was a doctor and surgeon in Shelby, Ohio, who wrote Jane Addams a brief letter on August 10, 1912, commending her for her speech to the Progressive Party Convention. DeVilbiss was an active civic leader, serving as president of the Shelby Equal Franchise Association, president of the Richland county Woman’s Suffrage …

From Journalist to Criminal: The Story of Herbert George Buss

When researching those who have corresponded with Jane Addams, you  come across a variety of unique individuals. As a research assistant who has been researching and writing biographies for a number of semesters, I’ve seen my fair share of interesting people — and I thought I’d share some of their stories with you! Among all …

Project Staff

The Jane Addams Papers at Ramapo College of New Jersey Editors Cathy Moran Hajo (Editor/Director) Victoria Sciancalepore (Assistant Editor) Stacy Lynn (Assistant Editor) Renee Delora Renee Delora is our Education Coordinator. She grew up in Cedar Grove, New Jersey and was an editorial assistant with the project from 2015-2018. She is a graduate of Ramapo …

Copyright

Jane Addams’ unpublished writings are in the public domain, as are all of her published works written more than 95 years ago (1927). Unpublished documents — letters, diaries, speech texts — written more than 70 years from the death of the author are in the public domain. This holds for Jane Addams, who died in …

Chronology

1860 September 6, 1860  Jane Addams is the eighth child born to Sarah Weber Addams and John Huy Addams, natives of Pennsylvania who had settled in Cedarville, Illinois.  Addams’s father, a farmer, also developed a prosperous gristmill in Cedarville and a bank in Freeport, Illinois.  He served in the Senate of the Illinois General Assembly …