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Citizen covers the first half of Addams's life, from 1860 to 1899. Knight recounts how Addams, a child of a wealthy family in rural northern Illinois, longed for a life of larger purpose. She broadened her horizons through education, reading, and travel, and, after receiving an inheritance upon her father's death, moved to Chicago in 1889 to co-found Hull House, the city's first settlement house. Citizen shows vividly what the settlement house actually was—a neighborhood center for education and social gatherings—and describes how Addams learned of the abject working conditions in American factories, the unchecked power wielded by employers, the impact of corrupt local politics on city services, and the intolerable limits placed on women by their lack of voting rights. These experiences, Knight makes clear, transformed Addams. Always a believer in democracy as an abstraction, Addams came to understand that this national ideal was also a life philosophy and a mandate for civic activism by all.
As her story unfolds, Knight astutely captures the enigmatic Addams's compassionate personality as well as her flawed human side. Written in a strong narrative voice, Citizen is an insightful portrait of the formative years of a great American leader.
"Knight's decision to focus on Addams's early years is a stroke of genius. We know a great deal about Jane Addams the public figure. We know relatively little about how she made the transition from the 19th century to the 20th. In Knight's book, Jane Addams comes to life. . . . Citizen is written neither to make money nor to gain academic tenure; it is a gift, meant to enlighten and improve. Jane Addams would have understood."—Alan Wolfe, New York Times Book Review
"My only complaint about the book is that there wasn't more of it. . . . Knight honors Addams as an American original."—Kathleen Dalton, Chicago Tribune
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
December 16, 2008 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780226447018
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PDF ebook
- ISBN: 9780226447018
- File size: 165363 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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October 1, 2005
Drawing upon resources in Chicago and other U.S. depositories, as well as Addams's own writings, Knight offers a narrative of this crusading woman's life to 1899 (she died in 1935). By tracing the development of the political and social philosophy of this estimable advocate for children, immigrants, the poor, and peace, Knight intends to show how this rural Illinois woman from comfortable circumstances was "born to one life and chose another and how she was transformed by that choice." For the scholar, she uncovers no new primary sources and makes no surprising statements, but she does show that Addams admirably advanced an agenda for social improvement while also desiring and needing the acclaim that this accorded. Buttressed by notes and 45 illustrations, Knight's impressive study acknowledges recent academic interest in Addams, noting contributions such as Jean Bethke Elshtain's "Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy" and Victoria Brown's "The Education of Jane Addams". Recommended for general readers as a review of one of America's greatest social reformers, although Elshtain's work would serve equally well. -Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of CongressCopyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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