She determined to devote herself and her fortune to a fairer distribution of the world's goods and pleasures among those who were always hungry and in want. It was a vast undertaking, but Miss Addams was not dismayed. She hoped that some day the rich and the educated would see that all men are equal and would unite with the unfortunate in one great brotherhood.
Hull House Social Settlement founded
She returned to Chicago, and there with a group of workers established a social settlement in a building in a poor quarter of the city and called it Hull House.
There everyone, however poor, was welcomed. People could come there for advice or help. Through personal influence they were led to become acquainted with the best books, to cultivate their minds, and to meet each other at times for study or social enjoyment.
The settlement a success
Men and women from all parts of the country and from abroad visited Hull House to see what Miss Addams and all her fellow-workers, through personal service, were doing to make the lives of the poor people around them a little brighter and happier. They found Hull House a success. The neighborhood was like a great family whose members sought each other's welfare. They regarded Miss Addams as one of themselves. This was a bit of the human brotherhood of which Miss Addams had dreamed.
Greater opportunities for women
227. What Has Been Accomplished. These great women of whom we have read have worked for the advancement, not alone of their sex, but of all mankind in the United States and the world over.
Through their efforts great changes have taken place in woman's position. Throughout the country she has a place more equal to man's in the eyes of the law, almost unlimited opportunities in education and business, and whatever openings in public life she proves fitted for. Now looking back, we can see that the greater part of what Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony so relentlessly strove for has been gained. Woman suffrage will doubtless soon cause the more backward states to give women full legal rights, and it will also enable women to work more freely for the progress of the nation.