Book Description
"We may either smother the divine fire in youth or we may feed it," Jane Addams writes. Suffused with Addams's abiding compassion, tempered with her pragmatism and humor, and shot through with anecdotes of her own experiences with young people, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets is a level-headed assessment of the challenges facing urban youth and the most effective ways to meet them.

When this book was first published in 1909, Addams was the most famous woman in America. A celebrity and a spiritual leader, she was widely regarded as practical, realistic, and endowed with a special insight into the problems of urban America. The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets--her favorite of her own books--establishes Addams as an accomplished writer as well as a reformer. In this compact volume she examines the causes for the discontent of youth in the city, chiding educators for their "persistent blindness to youth's most obvious needs."

Addams argues for the importance of providing direction and focus--for example, through public recreation, practical education, and experiences in the arts--for the pent-up energies of young men and women. She takes a realistic view of their basic social and sexual drives and their disaffection and alienation in an industrial world. At the same time, she rejects the hereditary explanations for delinquency that prevailed in her day. Allen F. Davis's introduction provides a biographical profile of Addams and a commentary on her importance as a writer and a social activist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

William James's review
Jane Adams is the female lead of Louis Menand's The Metaphysical Club.Here is a review of her book by one of it's male leads, William James, from a letter to her:

I have just read your Spirit of Youth, and think it "simply great."Hard not to cry at certain pages!The fact is, Madam, that you are not like the rest of us, who SEEK the truth and TRY to express it.You INHABIT reality; and when you open your mouth truth can't help being uttered.I think that this book will have a great and vital influence. ... Read more

Amazon.com
The story of settlement house pioneer Jane Addams's early life traces a trajectory that has become almost a feminist cliché. The frustrated Victorian spinster, plagued by mysterious physical ailments, finds a socially useful outlet for her intelligence and energy and her illnesses vanish--she becomes the picture of health and contentment. Familiar though it is in outline, the particulars of Addams's personal history are fascinating, especially as related in veteran biographer Gioia Diliberto's engaging, accessible style. Young Jane comes to life as a powerful personality notable for her "cool intellect." As a schoolgirl she was already convinced that "her life would not be ordinary." The author does a subtle job of assessing the psychological roots of Addams's empathy with the poor and commitment to social justice without scanting the integrity of her ethical convictions. And Diliberto's familiarity with contemporary scholarship shows in her lucid summary of the trends in religious and philanthropic beliefs that led Addams to found Hull-House in 1889 to help poor people better themselves; yet she wears her learning lightly in a lively text. The main narrative closes in 1899, with Hull-House thriving and 39-year-old Jane happily involved in a relationship with Mary Rozet Smith that endured until Smith's death in 1934. (Addams survived her by only a year.) This is a model of popular, undogmatic feminist biography. --Wendy Smith Book Description
The first biography in twenty-six years of Jane Addams -- founder of the Hull-House settlement and winner of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize -- written with access to hundreds of new family documents. "Today, Jane Addams is widely recognized as an extraordinary figure in our nation's history, one of a roster of great Americans -- Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. among them -- who made lasting contributions to social justice. But as with the lives of many iconographic figures, the legend often obscures the real story." Frequently recognized as one of the most influential women of the century -- and considered a heroine by nurses and social workers around the globe -- Jane Addams had to struggle long and hard to earn her place in history. Born in 1860 on the eve of the Civil War, she lived during pivotal times when women were only beginning to create new roles for themselves (ironically building on the Victorian ideal of women as ministering angels). Focusing on her metamorphosis from a frail, small-town girl into a woman who inspired hundreds of others to join her movement to serve the poor, A Useful Woman delves into the mysterious ailments and other troubles young Jane faced. Examining for the first time Jane's physical and mental health and the effect of her father's remarriage after her mother's death, biographer Gioia Diliberto directly links Addams's proneness to depression to her inability to conform to the mores of her time. Also, for the first time, she examines in detail Addams's two marriage-like relationships with women.With hundreds of previously unavailable documents at her disposal, Diliberto has written a fascinating study of one of the most intriguing and important women in history, concentrating on her difficult formative years with compelling -- and groundbreaking -- results. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great social history
A Useful Woman provides not only an outstanding biography of Jane Addams but gives wonderful insights into the role of women and the impact of the women's college movement in the 19th century. Diliberto does an excellent job of explaining the options open to women and how a well-educated woman like Jane had few outlets. The women Jane became involved with, both friends and sponsors, were fascinating as well, and I found myself wanting to know more about this important period in women's history.

author out of mind
The liberal feminine look on Jane Addams rings false to me. Jane Addams was from a much different time. She was from the victorian era. She was from the liberal protestant part of the culture. The hints of this writer reflect the narrow view of the few of today's citizens. But in the end, make no mistake, Jane Addams was a very proper person from her time. She was of course not sexually active outside of marriage. She was not sexually attracted to women. The problem with facts is that they do not change.

About A Woman Who Wanted to Make the World Better
Womens' lives are often filled with many tasks, and to become an international social reformer is very difficult to include.This is the story of one woman who wanted a life that was different from the traditional woman of her age.And the interesting part of the story is that she did become an internationally known social reformer.And she did win a Nobel Peace Prize.In our age of supporting choices for women, this book is not only about a 'useful' woman, it is also a very useful story.

A well-written biography
It bothers me to hear A USEFUL WOMAN described as a "feminist biography" just because the subject bucked the gender norms of her Victorian times.This book is about a social force and conscience, Jane Addams, whose intelligence, spirituality, generosity and, yes, unmarried status drove her to found Hull-House, a "settlement" in Chicago that served as both haven and learning center for the indigent, with a particular emphasis on aiding women and children.Addams, a frail woman suffering from lifelong ailments including depression, rose above her infirmities to enact social change and awareness during a time when many of the poor were seen as morally bankrupt individuals and not the victims of a socially unjust system.

The book is well-written and accessible, and suffers only rarely from too much trivial detail.Diliberto provides remarkable insight into this remarkable woman.If you are at all interested in social causes and the people behind them, read this biography.It is truly inspiring to read of how one woman changed the course of many lives.

What a Biography Should Be
Although a lover of biographies, even I was surprised when I couldn't put this book down.Diliberto has written a compelling and thoughtful study of Jane Addams, but managed to interweave her character analysis seamlesslyinto the social issues of the age.From women's rights to labor issues,Chicago corruption to pacificism, the author glides easily from socialissue to personal insight.Jane emerges as a real individual, not an"angel", but someone to be greatly admired. ... Read more

Book Description
Much more than a social worker, more than a political activist, Jane Addams was a giant in the civic life of America. She was the founder of the founder of Chicago's Hull House. Through her efforts of delivering social services, she recognized both the incredible potential of our democracy and the challenges of living up to it. Democracy and Social Ethics, published in 1902, articulates the quandary that American democracy is forever trying to solve: how to deliver the promise to every American. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Empathetic Look At the Plight of Early 20th Century Poverty-Stricken Immigrants
Hull House founder and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams spent twenty years working with the poverty-stricken immigrant poor in Chicago.She writes here with understated passion and unqualified empathy for their plight.

Anyone who wants to know why we have a fourty hour work should read this book.Addams writes about the desirablity of factory work over household work for young women, due both to the lack of isolation and the relatively short working hours, "only" from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., six days a week.

Anyone who wants to know why we minimum wage laws, social security disability laws, age discrimination laws, social security laws, welfare laws, etc. should read this book.Addams writes about people earning pennies an hour, having their peak earning years in their twenties, being disabled in their thirties, and being dependent on children for financial support.The children, in turn had their education stop before high school so they can support their families.

Anyone who wants to know why governments spend so much money on education should read this book.Addams writes about children having a choose limited to factory employment or household service, with the more intellectually oriented being doomed to spend a lifetime haunting public libraries and public lectures, but having virtually no chance of escaping the circumstance of their birth.

Anyone who wants to know why poverty-stricken people are suspicious of political reform movements should read this book.Addams writes about the major efforts Chicago's political powerhouses made to help individual poverty-stricken people, and the irrelevance of wisdom advocating personal savings to people who could not pay for food for their family, or of wisdom urging them to stay out of taverns when they were a great source of personal help and friendship.

One hundred and five years after Addams wrote this book, the United States is a far better place to live than it was then.But our country's improvements, urged by great progressive leaders like Addams, are under relentless right-wing assaults today.This book is extremely relevant to our country's future, if our future is going to continue to better than our past.

The introduction of Charlene Haddock Seigfried, the past president of the Society for the Advancement of American philosophy, adds a great deal to this work, as it places Addams and her fellow reformers into the context of both their times and the prevailing systems of thought.

Addams saw democracy as a way of life, and not just a series of electoral choices.She sought a major expansion of municipal services, to both improve the living standards of the desperately poor and to wean them away from dependence on corrupt political machines.She advocated the existence of "A reformer who really knew the people and their great human needs, who believed it was the business of government to serve them, and who further recognized the educative power of a sense of responsibility...."

Addams addresses this book to the philanthropic community which provided the base of her financial support.She clearly saw them as providing seed money for demonstration projects to create greater governmental and societal commitment.

It is fashionable in some quarters to say that nothing has been done and nothing can be done to improve the plight of the poverty-stricken.Anyone who believes that, or must deal with others who believe that, should read and quote liberally from this book. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Peace and Freedom, published by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom on March 22, 2001. The length of the article is 977 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jane Addams: Past, Present and Future.(Women's International League for Peace and Freedom)
Author: Mary Lynn Bryan
Publication: Peace and Freedom (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2001
Publisher: Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Volume: 61Issue: 2Page: 10

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of Leisure Research, published by National Recreation and Park Association on March 22, 2004. The length of the article is 3290 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy.(Book Review)
Author: Rodney B. Dieser
Publication: Journal of Leisure Research (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2004
Publisher: National Recreation and Park Association
Volume: 36Issue: 2Page: 282(7)

Article Type: Book Review

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Book Description