The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-22
sANE AppAMs oF HULL

Addams of Hull House fame has re. gently been decided by The Laoles Home Journal to be the foremost W. man of America and that the noteo woman Miss Helen Keller, nov Montgomery, was made to come seconu in Selected list of five foremost Amer iean women, something of the hie oi the former will be interesting to tnose who have not kept up with MISS Ao- dams's career. .3 To some in this vicinity the scope '. her work on altruistjc lines, Work TOT tha individual and for the state, IS not frI,v knovyn. That work has brought tn hav more than national celebrity as an indefatigable struggler Tor human progress. It was she who was hrst m America who recognized the neeo oi adding the social center to the innu- snce of the public school and other snuress of public education and she put 5er discoyery into practical servsce to bar country and to the world In the work of Hull House in Chicago nun dreds of institutions All over the coun- try are now conducted on similar lines. trba following Is a sketch from Chicago exchange of the life or Jane
 "Born at Cedarville. H.. on Septem- Der 6, 1880, Miss Addams is sprung from sturdy, upright American stock. Her father was John H. Addams, TOT eisn-
  district, one of the States early aboii- tionists and a personal friend or Aora' ham Lincoln.
 Miss Addams was the youngest member of a large family. As girl she attended a country school near her home and then entered Rockiord Sol- lege from which she was graduated m 1881. < She early evinced an interest in inc study of medicine. and It was with the purpose of making its practice her life work that she matrtcuJated At the Woman's Medical College of Phiiadsl- phia. Perhaps the fact that her motn- or had died In her childhood and her father the year that she left Rockford College had tended to develop in the young woman those traits of self-re- iiance and of Independent thinking which she has since manifested.
 She had attended medical college but year when serious malady de- yeloped which prevented her from do- ing the work required for degree. For a year shes suffered from persis- tent spinal fever and when she had suffleiently recovered to be able to travel. visited Europe with her step mother. They spent two years in and Italy and it was during this pe- riod that Miss Addams became inter- ested In the experiment. that was be- ing made at Toynbe Hall among the poor of London.
 When she returned to America the settlement idea had already taken shape in her mind. and in 1887, with Miss Helen Starr, Miss Addan1s again visited Europe.
 Tn 1888, when she returned to smer- ica.. Miss Addams decided to try her experiment on a small scale She and Miss Starr, with only their private purses to draw upon, began to cast about for location which should of- fer the widest heid of usefulness. The result was the establishment of what afterward became known as Hull House, situated at Polk and South Hal sted Streets. in the heart of as cosmo- politan a district as can be found any where in Chicago. '
 The beginning of the movement was modest. At frst the two women rent ed but a portion of the structure to carry on their work. but by the open ink of the next spring Miss Helen Gull. yer, who was in charge of the admin istration of the Hull estate turned over the building and grounds. rent free, to the social enthusiasts. Since that time Miss Culver's gifts have been extended to include free rental of the entire half hlocK.
 "The first activity of the settlement was directed to caring for the chill dren of the vicinity, and the kinder garteh work was In charge of Miss Dow. As Miss Addams had foreseen. the sympathy of the people was most easily engaged through the children and tile agencies set at work multi piled rapidly until they embraced ev- cry human activity. Hull House be- came what is today the very center of life of district teeming with possi- hilitiAs whence ideals of citizenship ra- dated and the slow task of amalga- mating the countless thousands who Int ' ae greatly accelerated. It was the very spirit and essence of democracy that the institution sought to inculcate and the impress of it's thought and feeling has been stamped upon a whole com munity,
 Hull House has been largely the ex- pression of Miss Addams's single per- sonality. With her growing fame oth- CT calls have been made upon her time and attention, but she has remained stanch to her first purpose and has continued to direct the manifold aetIv. ities of the institution. Her work has been the manufacture of citizens out of material often refractory and stubborn, and that work has given her, in The Journals opinion. the highest place among American women
 MRS. DEcKER's MESSAGE
 TO ALABAMA WOMEN.
 The Alabama Federation of Woman's Cluhs--t the youngest child in the Gen. eral Federation-- was complimented by the reception of a special letter from Mrs. Sarah Platt Decker, President of the General Federation Women's Clubs. In response to a letter from Mrs. W. A. Gayle. Prsident of Ala bama Federation, Mrs. Decker writes: Members of the Alabama Federation of
 Women's Clubs:
 It is a joyful day in our family when the news comes of the birth of a new daughter. When the new child is strong and healthy, already grown in grace, then indeed. is the happiness of the mother complete. A hearty well come to the new Federation! May I take moment of your time to set be- fore you the real meaning of the Moth CT Organization.
 To quote from the editor of a great St. Paul daily anent the Biennial Con vention held in that city in June of 1908, There is not stronger force for uplift in American life than this same influence of the General Federation of Women's Clubs" This is high praise, indeed. coming at the close of seven days session of a great organization. The backbone, so to speak. of the Gen. eral Federation Is made up of the State Federations. Here the great State of Alabama should play an important part. With It's largely increasing business in-