welcome to storyline online brought to
you by the sag-aftra foundation i'm
Tiernan Shipka and today i'm going to be
reading you the house that jane built
written by Tanya Lee stone and
illustrated by Catherine Brown I'm very
excited to be reading this to you all a
house stands on a busy street its doors
are opened wide to all become exist good
year to some intensified in 1889 a
wealthy young woman named Jane Addams
moved into a lovely elegant house in
Chicago Illinois but instead of moving
into a lovely elegant neighborhood she
picked a house that was smack in the
middle of one of the filthiest poorest
parts of town why would a wealthy young
woman do this when she could have looked
anywhere Jane was just 6 years old when
she went on a trip with her father and
noticed that not everyone lived like her
family did she vowed that one day he
would live right in the midst of horrid
little houses and find a way into the
world she was a strong soul from the
start
and she was brave when she and her
stepbrother George were young they would
sneak away at night to explore the
nearby cave once Jay lowered George over
a cliff on a rope to spy on an owl and
it's Maxim Jane was smart he read and
read from her father's book collection
which doubled as the town library most
girls did not go to college then but
Jane's father believed women should be
educated
she went to Rockford Female Seminary and
graduated at the top of her class but
when school was over she wasn't sure
what to do with her life that same
summer her father died Jane was lost
about two years later she and her
friends traveled to Europe they went to
the feeder the Opera and many beautiful
places but then James saw something in
London she couldn't forget people in
ragged clothes with outstretched hands
begging his heart vendor to buy his
leftover rotten fruits and vegetables
that hadn't sold up emotion boiled food
was cut out they could afford what could
she do to help long after her trip was
over the questions stuck in her mind she
remembered how she felt when she was
sick team traveled back to London to
learn about a place she had heard was
helping the poor in a brand new way at
20b hall the idea was to have rich and
poor people live together in the same
community and learn from each other
instead of simply serving soup for
example people could take cooking
classes other skills were taught as well
Toynbee Hall was the first settlement
house it was called a settlement house
because the well-off people who worked
there during the day didn't go back to
their own homes at night instead they
settled in and looked at Toynbee Hall
right in the same neighborhood as the
needy Jane now knew what to do she told
her friend Ellen gate star about her
plan to build a settlement house in
Chicago It was as if a racehorse had
burst out of the gate
free at last support every ounce of
energy into running there was a glittery
side to Chicago with its mansion fancy
shops and sparkling lakefront but there
was a great side to 1 million people
lived in Chicago in 1889 most were
immigrants people who came from other
countries they came for a better life
but they didn't be English that made it
hard to find good jobs many needed help
Jane found the perfect house it had big
rooms with high ceilings and marble
fireplaces and it was in one of the
worst neighborhoods in the city garbage
lay rotting in the streets piled high
large family four crammed into tiny
ramshackle houses no running water the
smell from backlot outhouses hung in the
air rough boys ran the streets stirring
up trouble because they had nothing to
do the house had belonged to Charles Jay
home and he had left it to a wealthy
cousin named Helen Culver
at first James made rent but after she
told Helen what she had in mind Helen
gave her the house for free and thanks
Jane named it Poe Huck
Jane moved in on September 18th 1889 the
very first night she was so busy and
excited that she forgot to lock a side
door before going to sleep but no one
broke in she decided to leave whole
house unlocked from then on so people
would know they could come in at any
time people who didn't have enough to
eat or had no shoes on their feet or had
just lost the job began to find their
way to home house of course it was
always peaceful once a couple of boys
threw rocks at the house and broke a
window instead of getting upset Jane
took it as a sign to give the
neighborhood kids something to do she
had her own way of looking at things
another time
Jane discovered a man in the house
looking for something to steal she tried
to jump out a window to escape but she
showed him the door so he wouldn't get
hurt when he broke in a second time she
asked him why he said he was out of work
and he had no money Jane told him to
report back the next morning when he did
she gave him a job Jane sent her own
money running whole house and asked
other well-off people to donate - she
did not want to be paid for working
there even when people gave her gifts
she gave them away her friends teased -
Jane about this one friend gave her new
underwear with her initials just the
Jane's couldn't pass them on what she
did any problem Jane discovered she
tackled no running water in the house
meant no easy way to bake this led to
sickness so Jane put in a public bath
people flocked to it what helped you're
convinced any officials they needed to
build more public baths
no safe place for children to play Jane
talked to wealthy men into giving her
the lot he owned near whole house
workmen tore down the shabby buildings
and turned the lot into a playground it
was the first one in Chicago little kids
home alone because their parents had to
work 14 hours a day Jane started the
morning tinder garden and after-school
clubs she also set up afternoon classes
for older kids who had to go to work
during the school day Jane did not do
all this alone
Ellen gates car was her partner from the
start many other smart generous people
moved into whole house and helped they
taught literature art English math
science and cooking soon there was not
just one building but to them three and
four and more by 1907 whole house had
grown into 13 buildings including a
jenavian coffee house theater music
schools community kitchens and an art
gallery by the early 1920s more than
nine thousand people a week visited
Lowell house the house that Jane builds
brought all kinds of people together and
helps those in need
it changed a bad neighborhood into a
great and strong community who has
transformed the lives of all who stepped
inside today every community center in
America in large part has Jane Addams to
thank with all that she did both inside
and outside the house that Jane built
for childhood wish to help fix the world
being true
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and the cool part about this story which
I love so much is that it's true reading
is so magical for so many reasons it can
bring you to amazing magical places that
are beyond your wildest dreams but it
can also give you amazing valuable
inspiring information like this and I'm
so happy this book exists and that I got
to learn a little bit more about Jane
today because she makes me want to be a
better person thank you for watching the
storyline online make sure to check out
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