Social work
Social work is an occupation that was started as a call to help the poor, the impoverished, and the disenfranchised of a speedily varying social order. It originated in volunteer determination to discourse the social question. By the start of the 20th century, working for social advancement had become a profession, and its advancement in the profession was achieved by 1930. These social workers helped in hospitals, schools, and children and family agencies. Jane Addams is a famous contributor to the history of social work and women’s suffrage in the USA and a worldwide peace campaigner. Her name is typically associated with the settlement house movement. She is the founder of Hull House, which was the first settlement house in the USA. Jane Addams worked tirelessly for the sake of the poor and oppressed.
Addams was born on September 6, 1860, and died on May 28, 1935. .she was born in Cedarville, Illinois, as the youngest of eight children in her family. She was an English American whose descent was traced back to colonial Pennsylvania. At the age of two, Addams’s mother died. Thereafter Addams grew up under the care of her older sisters. She spends her early childhood reading indoors and socializing by playing outside. At the age of four, she contracted tuberculosis of the spine, which complicated her function with other children. She grew up with a dream of doing something great to the world. Her mother inspired her for the love of the poor. Addams decided to become a doctor so that she can serve the poor. Her father encouraged her to pursue higher education. She attended nearby Rockford University, where she acquired a lot of leadership traits. Addams and her parent went to Europe for an extended visit. During her stay, she continued to discern her future goals. She visited several settlement houses that continued to hasten her interests to the poor. Addams spends her childhood in rural areas and becomes a change in urban life. Jane Addams was not married. She had a close compassionate relationship with Ellen Starr and later Mary smith. She died as a result of abdominal cancer.
Jane Addams, the mother of social work, was the pioneer of American social workers, known for her progressive humanitarian efforts at the start of the 20th century. She was the first American to win the Nobel Prize. Addams read from magazines about new ideas to start a settlement house. She visited Toynbee Hall, the first world settlement house in London, and discovered its beauty as a cultural connection. Addams and her friend Starr contributed by developing a settlement house, Hull House, in Chicago. This house provided a center of advanced civic and social life. It instituted and maintained an educational and charitable enterprise. Following an economic depression in1893, Addams became a political activist and tirelessly worked on behalf of the most vulnerable by lobbying for legislation to protect the immigrants and most defenseless in the community.
Jane Addams was an advocate for laborers; she participated in the Haymarket riot to call for attention to the laborers’ horrifying working conditions. As a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Addams led the movement on women’s right to vote. Addams apprehension of racial inequality as well. Her participation in the formation of the American civil liberties union and colored people’s advancement made her be labeled as ”socialist” and communist. Addams is also remembered for her achievement in PEACEBUILDING WORK. In her life, she believed peace is the ”nature of human life”. She urged that war is not a natural activity for humanity, and it destroys democracy. As a social feminist, she led women in search of ways to address conflict. Addams emphasized fundamental resolutions that could be applied to end violence; she contributed by empowering women to commit themselves to avoid war by looking for peaceful solutions.
Addams’s life in the history of social work has impacted my life in several ways. Like social work, I have a duty to fight against mistreating the poor, race discrimination, and advocate against the war. I have learned challenges should not be my limitation but work to seek for solutions. Addams is far ahead of me, contributing to social work through my dream and her similar dream. This assignment has helped me learn more about the contributors to the history of social work, thus laying a path for me to mark my legacy in my profession of social work.