The education of Jane Addams

This provocative biography offers a rich contribution to the field. Brown (history, Grinnell College) previously edited Addams's Twenty Years at Hull House (1999). Unlike Jean Elshtain's Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy (2002), this new examination shifts the focus away from Addams's often-studied later years to the formative first three decades of her life. Brown charts Addams's slow evolution from "aspiring elite steward" to a "practicing democratic pacifist," revealing how life experiences molded her philosophical positions. The author argues compellingly, and contrary to previous interpretations, that Addams was not destined for Hull House, but chose it freely after sincere and considerable self-searching. Assessing the effect of family, gender, class, and geography on Addams's development, this work offers fresh insights into the person and her intellectual development. By thorough analysis, Brown achieves a sensitive understanding of the extensive primary sources; she suggests, for example, that Addams's autobiography presents "emotional truths," even while blurring or altering actual events. This fine work, ending in 1895, when "Jane Addams became Jane Addams" and entered the national arena of reform, will leave scholars hoping Brown will do a second volume. ^BSumming Up: Essential. All libraries, undergraduate and above. S. Burch Gallaudet University