Author: Cathy Moran Hajo

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It’s Women’s History Month at the Jane Addams Papers!

A collage of historical black-and-white and sepia portraits of women, each photographed individually, showcasing a variety of hairstyles, clothing, and expressions from different eras.

A collage of historical black-and-white and sepia portraits of women, each photographed individually, showcasing a variety of hairstyles, clothing, and expressions from different eras.

At the Jane Addams Papers Project every month is women’s history month, but in March we take the time to officially recognize it! Addams is an icon of women’s history, famous in her time as a social worker, social reformer, philosopher and advocate for peace, equality, and social justice. If we have learned anything while working on her papers, it has been the sheer breadth of her work — the connections that she had with women from every continent as they tried to better the world through cooperation, community, and charity.

The Jane Addams Papers tells the story not just of Jane Addams, but the women who worked with her, who were inspired by her, and who opposed her. It offers a deep understanding of the wide variety of women’s experiences in a pivotal time in world history. Over 9,000 women have been named in Addams’s papers, ranging from rank and file members of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, settlement workers in New Orleans and Minnesota, and child labor activists in Chicago and New York. They include Japanese and Chinese feminists, Italian peace workers, Mexican social workers, and Dutch suffragists.

Please support the Jane Addams Papers Project!

The National Endowment for the Humanities will match donations dollar-for-dollar to the Project! The past year has been a challenging one financially for the project. Funding for the humanities is in short supply, and for projects that document the work of women, especially those who worked for equality and social justice, support has been tough to find. We lost an editor in 2025 due to federal funding cuts and have been short-staffed as we try to stay on task. Private support is needed in order to meet the costs of student researcher salaries, research, and web development. For that we need you!

Our goal is to raise $5,000 during this Women’s History Month. Can you help?  

A large red rectangular button with a white arrow pointing right and the words DONATE NOW in bold white letters.

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Transcribing the Addams Papers!

A woman in a formal, ornate dress with puffed sleeves sits on a large, intricately carved chair with lion heads on the armrests and decorative figures on the backrest. She looks to the side, holding her hands in her lap.

We have partnered with From the Page to invite the public to transcribe Addams documents from 1877 to 1899. Using this innovative platform, you can transcribe Addams’s speeches, articles and other writings, transcribe her incoming letters, and if you are feeling brave, tackle Jane Addams’s handwriting yourself!

Screenshot of a digital archive webpage displaying a handwritten letter from 1887. The left side shows the letter, while the right side has a typed transcript and options to edit, save, and mark the text as complete.
Transcription interface on From the Page.

When the Project came to Ramapo College ten years ago, our two goals were to complete the Selected Papers of Jane Addams and to create the digital archive. We started our work with the year 1901, where Volume 4 of the Selected Papers began. As we are getting close to completing the years 1901-1935, we are turning back to the first three reels of correspondence and to Addams’s early writings. These years include, Addams’s college years, her travels abroad as a young woman, and the first ten years of Hull-House.

A woman in a formal, ornate dress with puffed sleeves sits on a large, intricately carved chair with lion heads on the armrests and decorative figures on the backrest. She looks to the side, holding her hands in her lap.
Jane Addams in 1896 (Swarthmore College Archives)

Crowdsourcing is a great way to engage those interested in Addams’s life and work, and by transcribing you get an experience of close reading unlike any other.  Puzzling out the names, finding archaic terms and spellings brings us closer to the authors and gives a real sense of what it was like to be alive in the late 19th century.

From the Page’s interface is easy to use. All you need to do is create an account and then find the Jane Addams Papers. You will see documents that need to be transcribed and can select any that interest you, or you can press the Start Transcribing button and get a random page!

We started adding documents to the portal last month, and even before a day was out, volunteers hooked on transcription rolled up their sleeves and got to work.  As of this morning, 360 pages of material have already been transcribed, from 71 of the 868 works we mounted. We haven’t even advertised it yet!

Once these are transcribed we will import them into our digital archive and students working the the project will attach metadata and link the names of people, organizations and events to the text, just as we have done with those created by project staff. The work of volunteers will make it easier for us to make these documents freely accessible to the public.

So if you would like to try your hand at transcription, dive on in!

A red oval button with white text that says, Start Transcribing!.

 

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What’s in a Name? The Jane Addams of. . .

A world map with pink location pins marking various cities in North America, Europe, and South Asia, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Norway, Turkey, and India.

You know that you have made it when your name becomes an adjective. In the course of our research on Jane Addams, we regularly come across people in all walks of life who are described as “the Jane Addams of India,” or “the Jane Addams of Northern Michigan,” or even “the Jane Addams of Social Work.” That last one seems a bit odd — as Jane Addams was clearly the Jane Addams of Social Work!

Because Jane Addams was engaged in so many reforms, her namesakes vary as well. Some are social workers and settlement women, such as  Lillian D. Wald (New York), Constance Currie (Minnesota) or Muriel Lester (London). Others were peace activists, like Halide Edib Adivar (Turkey), Alice Salomon (Germany) or María Elena Landázuri Gil (Mexico).

I’ve built an interactive map of those we have found so far with short biographies that you can explore (see in full screen) .

Who is the Jane Addams of Today?

Seeing the impact that Addams had on the lives of her contemporaries begs the question, Who is the Jane Addams of today? What problems do we face today that need someone of her character and care? Settlement houses faded away for the most part in the mid-20th century, but neighborhood organizing is still a vital movement. Immigrants still need help navigating American society. Even child labor, the reform Addams achieved in her lifetime, does not seem so settled. War still ravages the world, and its great expense hampers our ability to fund social services, education and health care.

Is she (or he) out there?  — working quietly to better their neighborhood, protesting for peace and social justice, or helping improve the lives of individuals through sympathy and social work? Time will tell!

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Scholar’s Corner: Patricia Shields

Patricia Shields sits holding a notebook, next to a sign reading 2018 International Colloquium on Ethical Leadership, Public Integrity, with SEIGov and Public Integrity logos visible behind her.

We want to thank Patricia Shields for sharing some of her research on Jane Addams!

Jane Addams’s Social Ethics (Video)

Patricia Shields on Jane Addams’s Social Ethics, April 24, 2018

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/8366

Patricia Shields sits holding a notebook, next to a sign reading 2018 International Colloquium on Ethical Leadership, Public Integrity, with SEIGov and Public Integrity logos visible behind her.
Patricia Shields, 2018

Recovering Jane Addams: Ethics, Social Work, Social Justice and Peace (PDF)

Patricia M. Shields, Recovering Jane Addams: Ethics, Social Work, Social Justice and Peace, Grace Abbott School of Social Work, University of Nebraska Omaha, October 2017.

Presentation slide titled “Recovering Jane Addams: Ethics, Social Work, Social Justice and Peace” with a black and white photo of Jane Addams, event details, and logos of the University of Nebraska Omaha and Grace Abbott School of Social Work.

 

Jane Addams and the Women’s Peace Movement (Video)

Patricia Shields on Jane Addams and the Women’s Peace Movement, from Save Texas History Symposium on Texas and the Great War, September 16, 2017.

Jane Addams’s Peaceweaving: A Feminist Response to Paternalism, Militarism, and World War I

Patricia M. Shields, Jane Addams’s Peaceweaving: A Feminist Response to Paternalism, Militarism, and World War I, Women and Gender Research Collaborative, March 24, 2017.  (PDF)

Presentation slide titled Jane Addams’s Peaceweaving: A Feminist Response to Paternalism, Militarism, and World War I with Jane Addams’s photo, a Women and Gender Research Collaborative logo, and event details for Patricia M. Shields.

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Presenting at the Chicago Women’s History Conference

Three smiling women stand indoors next to a life-size black-and-white cutout of a historical woman; two women wear name badges and one wears a shirt with a printed image. Ornate architecture is visible in the background.
Three smiling women stand indoors next to a life-size black-and-white cutout of a historical woman; two women wear name badges and one wears a shirt with a printed image. Ornate architecture is visible in the background.
Marilyn, Cathy, Jane, and Stacy at the Chicago Women’s History Conference, March 22, 2025.

The Jane Addams Papers Project represented at the Chicago Women’s History Conference this past Saturday. Cathy Moran Hajo, Stacy Lynn, and advisory board member Marilyn Fischer led a workshop devoted to the importance of Jane Addams, the digital edition, and how scholars and teachers can use it. Stacy talked about how influential Addams and the women of Hull-House were, and Cathy demonstrated the digital edition, while Marilyn discussed how she uses the digital edition to trace Addams’s word use in her three part book series about Addams as an evolutionary philosopher.

Our workshop was just one session in a day filled with really interesting work. The biggest challenge was choosing between them! And Jane Addams was everywhere! From the cardboard cutout at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s booth, to morning presentations by Sherryl Engstrom on Hull House Performs: A Description and Evaluative Study of the Performing Arts at Hull House, 1920-1937 and Fiona Maxwell on “We Women Would Rule the World of Politics”: Women’s Oratory and Activism at Chicago Settlement Houses, 1890-1920. In the afternoon, we delighted to Ann Keating and advisory board member Rima Lunin Schultz’s presentation, “Beyond the Second Wave: Working Class Women Activists and City Planning: Florence Scala and Chicago’s Near West Side.”

Keynote speaker Jamila Woods was inspiring and plenary session with Pinqy Ring and her amazing students ended with an emotional bang. What an amazing time.

 

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Assistant Editor for the Jane Addams Papers Project Job Listing

Illustration of a woman in a large hat, shown in grayscale on a red background, with the words Jane Addams Papers Project in a circular border around the image.

Illustration of a woman in a large hat, shown in grayscale on a red background, with the words Jane Addams Papers Project in a circular border around the image.We are hiring! The Project seeks a full-time, grant-funded Assistant Editor to join our work on the Project’s digital edition and on the Selected Papers of Jane Addams. Please share this opportunity with potential candidates in your networks.

The successful candidate will work in-person at Ramapo College of New Jersey, in Mahwah, NJ. This position is not eligible for remote work. The assistant editor’s responsibilities will primarily support work on the Jane Addams Digital Edition. Under the supervision of the Project Director, the Assistant Editor verifies transcriptions and metadata, supervises and trains student employees, conducts research, and assists in all phases of implementing editorial practice at the project. The Assistant Editor also assists with grants and project promotion.

For more information about the position see the posting linked below or email Cathy Moran Hajo chajo@ramapo.edu.

Application information: https://www.schooljobs.com/careers/ramapo/jobs/4583980/assistant-editor-jane-addams-papers-project?pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

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Powering the Jane Addams Papers!

Black and white portrait of Jane Addams with light hair pulled back, wearing a high-neck lace blouse. Text at the top reads Jane Addams copyright by E.F. Waters 12-2-22.

We are delighted beyond words to announce that the Jane Addams Papers has received two major grants.

Black and white logo of the National Archives featuring a stylized eagle wing above the words “NATIONAL ARCHIVES” and “National Historical Publications & Records Commission.”.

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission awarded us $160,000 in support for 2022-2023. The NHPRC’s program in Publishing Historical Records in Collaborative Editions has been a stalwart supporter of the Project and has published many papers projects that document the lives of women.  Funds from this grant help support the salaries of editors working on the Jane Addams Digital Edition.

 

The official seal of the National Endowment for the Humanities, featuring a bald eagle with a shield, olive branch, and arrows, above the text National Endowment for the Humanities.The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded us a three-year $300,000 grant (2022-2025). The NEH’s program in Scholarly Editing aids in the publication of the Selected Papers of Jane Addams as well as our work on the digital edition. The NEH’s support for historical editions has enriched the study of our nation’s heritage tremendously.

 

Black and white portrait of Jane Addams with light hair pulled back, wearing a high-collared lace blouse and a dark dress, looking to the left. The photo appears vintage and formal.
E. B. Waters portrait of Jane Addams (1902) Library of Congress

A Challenge: How You Can Help

Our new NEH Grant offers a way for you to help power the Addams Papers. The NEH will provide us with an additional $150,000 in matching funds if we can raise $150,000 from private sources. These much needed funds are needed to support the salaries of our student workers, research costs, and the editorial salaries that aren’t covered by the NEH and NHPRC.

We are currently short-staffed, with fewer student assistants than usual. Your support will ensure that we meet our goals for 2022-2023:

  • Entering over 1,000 new Addams documents with descriptive metadata in the Jane Addams Digital Edition.
  • Transcribing over 1,000 new Addams documents for the digital edition.
  • Proofreading student work to ensure quality before publication.
  • Submitting Volume 4 of the Selected Papers of Jane Addams to the University of Illinois Press.
  • Continuing research on Volume 5 of the Selected Papers of Jane Addams.
  • Working with high school teachers to develop AP resources.
  • Researching and writing biographies and descriptions of the people, organizations, events and publications mentioned in the Jane Addams Digital Edition.

A large red rectangular button with a white arrow pointing right and the words DONATE NOW in bold white letters.So, if you can, please donate now. Your contributions will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the NEH and will power the students whose work makes all of this possible.

Thanks for your support! A blue ink, cursive signature written on white paper.

 

 

 

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Reviews in Digital Humanities

Circular logo with a portrait of a woman in a large hat at the center. The words Jane Addams Papers Project are written around the border on a red and black background.

Black and white portrait of an older woman with light hair pulled back, wearing a collared shirt, and smiling gently at the camera. The photo is framed in an oval shape.Thanks to Núria Sara Miras Boronat for her review of the Jane Addams Papers Project, published in the most recent release of Reviews in Digital Humanities (Vol. 3, No. 2, Feb. 14, 2022).

We particularly appreciated the kudos, below:

JADE is one of the most important interventions that has occurred in the last decade for not only Addams’ work but also for pragmatist scholarship. It provides very valuable information about the intertextual and contextual references of her writings, which are not obvious to contemporary readers, especially if those readers are not from the U.S. or are not English native speakers. It also informs readers about the density of connections and affections of one of the greatest thinkers and activists of the progressive era. Finally, it has a strong value as a project for teaching digital humanities.

We are happy to address one issue that Núria pointed out, the relative difficulty in locating our blog posts. We are on it, and hope to have a easy way to find all posts up and running soon.

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Our Thanks to the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation

“Thank You” is written in bold, stylized letters with a vintage decorative frame and floral designs featuring white flowers and leaves around the text.

Black and white portrait of an older woman with light hair pulled back, wearing a collared shirt, and smiling gently at the camera. The photo is framed in an oval shape.I am delighted to announce that the Jane Addams Papers Project has been awarded a grant by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation! We are extremely grateful to the Foundation for their support of our work and their support for humanities research.

The award for Making the Jane Addams Papers Accessible to the Public
will support the work of undergraduate student assistants who are currently entering Addams documents in 1924 into our system. Our students analyze the digitized texts, creating descriptive metadata that makes them easier to locate and understand, and transcribe the texts. This makes text searches possible and helps readers unfamiliar or unable to read cursive.  The Delmas grant will also fund the work of a student to help us create educational materials for high school AP and honors curriculum.

The grant will also be matched by the National Endowment for the Humanities. A win-win!

If you are able to help support the work of the Jane Addams Papers Project, please click on the donate link to keep our student workers typing away!

 

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Jane Addams and the Long 19th Amendment Project

Historic black-and-white photo of women suffragists holding a banner, with text about Harvards Long 19th Amendment Project Portal and a cartoon blue bird with a yellow Votes for Women sash.

Historic black-and-white photo of women suffragists holding a banner, with text about Harvards Long 19th Amendment Project Portal and a cartoon blue bird with a yellow Votes for Women sash.I am very pleased to announce that the Jane Addams Digital Edition has shared content from our site with the Schlesinger Library’s Long 19th Amendment Project, an amazing digital portal that revolves around archival discovery, teaching innovation and collaborative scholarship on the history of gender and women’s rights.

This project, supported by the Schlesinger Library and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, seeks to build collaboration by including digitized materials from  well-known archives like the Papers of Susan B. Anthony and the Papers of Alice Paul at Schlesinger Library, but also includes materials from more than 40 contributing repositories.

A group of women in early 20th-century clothing sit in an open car during a suffrage parade, with Votes for Women banners draped over the vehicle. A large stone building and more marchers are visible in the background.When we were approached by the Long 19th Amendment team, we were excited to participate for two reasons. Jane Addams isn’t known primarily for her work for woman suffrage. She is often mentioned in lists, or gets a small part in the larger history, but in her day, Addams was a leading suffragist. She was a vice president of the National Woman Suffrage Association and used her considerable fame to promote the movement. She gave frequent speeches on woman suffrage, especially on its impact for working women, spoke on college campuses, and testified before Congress in 1912 to make her argument.

The other reason that we were eager to participate, is that the Long 19th Amendment Portal offered the opportunity to fulfill one of our long-term project aims regarding data and data sharing. We want to be able to export our Dublin Core-based data from our Omeka content management system so that it can be repurposed and shared with other scholars. This project demonstrated that with just a little effort on our part, we could share more than 500 documents.

Looking at the Jane Addams Digital Edition in terms of woman suffrage, we had several options.

  • To share documents that have been tagged with Woman Suffrage
  • To share biographies of people tagged with Woman Suffrage

Working with the Portal team, we decided to share documents written between 1901-1920 in the first contribution.As we proofread more texts, we will update the data shared to include additional years. Our biographical collection will be included as a linked collection that researchers can locate and consult directly.

This is just the first in what we hope will be other collaborations with scholars working on related collections. If you are interested in accessing data from the digital edition, please do not hesitate to get in touch!