"The Greatest Woman in the World"

​‪@iammrbeat‬ tells you all about Jane Addams, one of the most important figures in American history. This is part of another mega-collaboration of a bunch of history KZbinrs to celebrate women's history month. We're calling it #ProjectHerStory.
Check out the complete playlist here: • #ProjectHerStory
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Produced by Matt Beat. Music by Electric Needle Room (Mr. Beat's band). All images and video either by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. #janeaddams #hullhouse
Electric Needle Room's new children's album, "Just Kidding Around:"
Bandcamp: tinyurl.com/yyf65v47
Spotify: tinyurl.com/y5ayqjhn
KZbin: tinyurl.com/y374maup
Apple: tinyurl.com/y6rjckls
Amazon: tinyurl.com/y5ukdrnf
Sources/further reading:
www.womenshistory.org/educati...
plato.stanford.edu/entries/ad...
www.hullhousemuseum.org/about...
www.nps.gov/people/jane-addam...
janeaddams.ramapo.edu/about-ja...
digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Ad...
www.encyclopedia.chicagohistor...
www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/pea...
view.ceros.com/the-guardian/e...
Fair use/creative commons credits:
IvoShandor
Jeremy Butler
Chicago Architecture Today
Wolfgang Sauber
Daniel Schwen
Americasroof
Here’s the story of one of the most important people in American history...Jane Addams. But her impact as a reformer went way beyond the United States. In my opinion, she’s the face of the entire Progressive Era, that period of widespread reform and activism between the 1890s and 1920s.
Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois on September 6, 1860. The youngest of eight children, by most measures Jane’s family was very well off. Her dad, John, was a successful businessman and a member of the Illinois Senate who even knew Abraham Lincoln. Jane adored her father. He definitely was a big influence on her life. Sadly, she never really knew her mother, who died in childbirth when Jane was just two. Growing up, Jane was mostly taken care of by her older sisters.
When Jane was four, she got Pott’s disease, which was basically tuberculosis of the spine. This caused a curvature in her spine, which led to health problems the rest of her life. Growing up, she had a limp due to this, and often could not run as quickly as the kids she played with.
Jane’s father remarried when she was eight to Anna Haldeman. Jane and Anna got along quite well, and Jane was quite influenced by Anna’s devotion to the poor who lived in Cedarville. That, combined with reading about the poor in Charles Dickens novels, would eventually cause Jane to want to devote her life to helping the poor.
With the encouragement of her father, Jane decided to attend college, which is not something most girls did in the 1870s. But Jane was extremely smart, and college wasn’t no thing, yo. She graduated from Rockford Female Seminary, which is now Rockford University, in 1881 at the top of her class, also among the first there to ever get a bachelor’s degree.
That summer, Jane’s father suddenly died of appendicitis. I’ve had appendicitis, by the way, and it sucks. I didn’t die from it, though. Anyway, this video isn’t about me. Jane and her sibling each inherited $50,000, which today translates to nearly $1.3 million.
Jane decided she wanted to study medicine. That fall, she joined her sister Alice to go to the Woman’s Medical College of Philadelphia. While she was driven and ambitious, a few things came up that took her away from her goals. First of all, she still had health problems. Her spine was still giving her trouble, and her brother-in-law Harry performed surgery to attempt to straighten it. She ended up having a nervous breakdown which caused her to have to withdraw from med school. After this, Jane returned to Cedarville to take care of her stepmom, Anna, who had gotten very sick.
Meanwhile, Jane was in a funk, now not knowing what to do with her life. So she went to Europe. Beginning in August 1883, and over the following four years, she would travel all over Europe, constantly looking for direction.

[@iammrbeat]

To celebrate Women's History Month, we did another history KZbinr mega-collaboration. Check out the full playlist here: kzbin.info/aero/PLHtE7NbaKReeL22jTQB6c0WGw8KfzJvMc

[@bernardoviana1774]

Hey Mr. Beat. That amazing storu remember me the story of two portuguese womans: Carolina Beatriz Angelo, the first Portuguese woman to both vote and being surgeon and the story of Maria Luísa Holstein a rich woman wich had funded a network of soup kitchens for the poor workers of the late 19th century Lisbon. Portugal

[@morefrank1841]

Hey Mr. Beat, you should do a video about Brown vs. Entertainment association merchants

[@allieodair]

I finished this 14 min. video in almost three hours because I kept pausing, taking notes and telling my sister all about what I just learned with mega enthusiasm. This was a WONDERFUL video, so informative and so interesting! I now officially adore this woman 😭😭 Thank you 🙏

[@connor981]

“If the meanest man in the republic loses his rights, everyone in the republic loses his rights.” -Jane Addams

[@iammrbeat]

Wait a second...that's a real quote?

[@connor981]

@@iammrbeat Slightly different wording but yes. It's a great quote saying that you can't take away one's rights because you think what they say or do is 'mean': "If the meanest man in the republic is deprived of his rights, then every man in the republic is deprived of his rights." Jane Addams wrote this in an address to the Union League Club of Chicago; it was published in Union League Club of Chicago, Exercises in Commemoration of the Birthday of George Washington (1903), p. 9. janeaddams.ramapo.edu/2015/11/

[@demographicdominion412]

@@connor981 You misunderstand Back then the term "Mean" was also another way of saying poor, or of low class.

[@joaovitormatos8147]

Me, before the video: "why do I have to care, I'm not even American" Me now: "Damn, Addams"

[@iammrbeat]

I know right? She actually had quite a bit of impact on the whole world.

[@MM-vs2et]

Sucks that this only has 57k views after 2 years. This is one of the most important historical person in American, and even world history. Thank you Miss Addams, for having empathy, something most people lacked in your time.

[@harleylawdude]

My grandfather Charles P Schwartz was Jane Addams personal attorney and lived in the Hull House. His papers are in the Addams Collection. The original deed to the Hull House was found in his law office papers.

[@iammrbeat]

Very cool!

[@harleylawdude]

In the words of Roger Baldwin: “ Charlie was quite a guy!”

[@HistoryandHeadlines]

That was neat to see you start the playlist and then come back for a video later in the playlist! :)

[@iammrbeat]

Thanks for all your help promoting this thing. My video is already underperforming, as I predicted.

[@HistoryandHeadlines]

@@iammrbeat I think most of the world is fixated on the pandemic at the moment.

[@HikmaHistory]

Daaang I didn't know Jane was that significant! What a talented family the Adams were.

[@iammrbeat]

Definitely, but just to make sure folks don't mix it up, the Addams Family of Jane was different than the Adams family of John, Abigail, and John Quincy. Oh, and the Addams Family is also a classic show.

[@chrisnemec5644]

Very nice and informative. When I took history, they really didn't go into the depth of her like you have.

[@iammrbeat]

Yeah we gloss Jane over in APUSH, too. Then again, we gloss just about everything over in that class.

[@nickhueper2906]

Good video Mr Beat, can’t say I’ve really heard about her so this was very informational 👍

[@iammrbeat]

Thanks Isaac. Yeah she was kind of a big deal. It's sad more folks don't know about her.

[@shirtless6934]

Thank you for an excellent presentation. When I was growing up in the 1960's, one of the first things I read about Jane Addams was the article, “Jane Addams,” in Volume 6 of the Childcraft Encyclopedia, published in 1954. The author said that when Jane visited Europe, she wanted to know why the boys and girls did not have a safe place to play. According to the article, “They thought this rich American girl was queer to ask such a question.” I guess that is as close to the subject of sexual orientation they could come in a children’s book published in 1954.

[@iammrbeat]

Thanks for the kind words and for sharing that. :D

[@shirtless6934]

@@iammrbeat I do not mean to get this discussion off track, but paging through the book as an adult is much more "enlightening" than it was when I read it as a child. Another article is about Rosa Bonheur, the French painter (artist). Her father did not want her to become a painter, as that was not considered suitable for a girl. He sent her to dressmaking class, where she was a miserable failure. The dressmaker said to her, "I wish you had been born a boy, cherie." If you look up Ms. Bonheur on Wikipedia, you see she had something in common with Jane Addams. Keep up the good work on the videos.

[@MM-vs2et]

Not to refute her sexual orientation, but, "queer" didn't really mean what it means today. It meant "weird" back then. And would make sense as Europeans would find an American asking about children playing to be weird.

[@semipenguin]

Amazing woman. Someone everyone should look up to.

[@iammrbeat]

Dang straight.

[@Bladingmom]

Jane Addams was all that! As someone with a Sociology degree, I owe her my life!

[@Artur_M.]

Out of all the amazing ladies featured in this collaboration, I knew the least about Jane Addams, bearly vaguely herd something, so this was very informative for me.

[@aodhganmerrimac]

A person who truly represented what this nation should be!

[@thefisher612]

I just learned your a history teacher 😂 I was just surprised that’s all

[@iammrbeat]

On KZbin and in real life. My students call me "Mr. Beat."

[@coasterhockygamingboy9549]

Can you be my history teacher?

[@TBONESIDEOFLIFE]

Another video I looked forward to seeing today. Great timing, friend. Stay safe. Cheers!

[@iammrbeat]

You stay safe, too! What a crazy time. I made this before the madness accelerated.

[@MasonBason]

Holy moly she helped start a lot of stuff

[@iammrbeat]

Researching for the video I was blown away by how much stuff she was involved with.

[@selucea]

For something loaded with dates and facts, you forgot a biggie: Even though Addams was willing to offer Teddy's nomination at the Progessive's convention, she was as angry about his lack of inclusion of "the colored people" as she was about his war platform - and consequently was a primary fundraiser for the founding of the NAACP.

[@mzkarmathadiva7257]

this was very informative. I enjoyed watching this.

[@gguerard]

Thanks for the video Mr. Beat! I enjoy learning new things and the way you present the information!

[@iammrbeat]

Well thank you so much!

[@ethanstinkan]

These are the people we should learn more about in school

[@enmorot]

This video should have much more views. Addams was such an important figure and should be recognized more for all the amazing things she did for so many people.

[@mhamilton3421]

I’ve only discovered your videos in the last week, and I like them very much. I have been a presidential trivia nerd since I was about 5 years old. I do have a difficult but interesting topic for you to explore: how different would the United States be if Sirhan Sirhan had not assassinated RFK in 1968 and, presumably, that RFK had defeated Nixon in the general election?

[@iammrbeat]

Thanks for watching and for the great suggestion!

[@angietinio2511]

She needs to be flexed in history classes. Periodt.

[@thehickoryhutch5947]

Shout out to my brothers and sisters from Northern Illinois. Rockford, Freeport, Byron, Stillman Valley, Poplar Grove, Belvidere and all the others!!!

[@XerxesTheUndead]

Shout out from Durand aka Ellen Gates Starr’s hometown!

[@Ruby_V_]

I love this channel.

[@ermesdallagasperina6136]

Great Video Mr Beat. Who else has school closed because of coronavirus?

[@iammrbeat]

Thanks Ermes. I think pretty much all of us are out of school right now. Kansas closed them down for the rest of the year.

[@Speklify]

Thanks, this helped a lot for school thank you.

[@nsp74]

wow!!! she was anti emperialist and protesting america for annexing my beloved Philippines. a salute to you madam !

[@JorgeMartinez-mh7eu]

It's good to know she is isnt just a highway in Chiacago lol. I'm from Chicago and it's a shame she isn't discussed as often, but great vid!

[@iammrbeat]

At least she got a highway. :) Some schools are also apparently named after her around there?

[@businessaccount1374]

Informative

[@roughcollies1811]

Sweet! Great video! I love it!

[@iammrbeat]

Thanks :D

[@hussain6469]

Since the stock market is crashing, how about you cover all the economic depressions in us history, the panic of 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893, 1907, the great depression and the great recession.

[@iammrbeat]

That's a depressing series of suggestions. :) But a good idea.

[@hussain6469]

@@iammrbeat well I actually Meant you could cover them all in one video😂

[@theodoreroosevelt8537]

Hussain Alqallaf call it now the Virus Depression

[@randomdudeontheinternet4827]

Yay! :D another mr beat episode! Do a video on King George 3 or Maximilian Robespierre Please

[@iammrbeat]

Great suggestions!

[@Wallyworld30]

There is a channel called "This is Barris! French History" That just did a huge saga on Robespierre and it's excellent!

[@ArmyJames]

King George III *OR* Robespierre. What a weird juxtaposition.

[@hollygold4909]

Everything I admire. Great job capturing her life.

[@chrisforkan2090]

Mr beat, when are you going to do the Wyoming vs Colorado video? I asked you a while ago.

[@grifidj1063]

I'm studying Social Work and I love it! And I have Jane Addams to thank for it!

[@rparl]

Having seen all but one of the other videos, I like this woman best. Good job.

[@stevenguyen6616]

Hi Ross...... I was commenting on this page, when I came across yours and all what you just said in your comment is great and amazing. Ross I will like us to be friends, This is my Gmail [e-mail] you can text me sorry for comment on Public stuff. please the gmail is only for Ross lol 😆 kindly text me on this gmail if that is okay with you? I hope to hear from you soon.....God bless you.🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

[@derrickleroy3976]

Thank you for this summary of Jane Addams work/achievements during the progressive era, it's really helpful for me to write my essay on her significance in the world. If you were to add anything to the video, perhaps after New York Times statement of Ms. Addams, you would add the long lasting impact that she had on America. EX: her contribution to worker's rights with the 8-hour work day....... initiated a humane approach to work in America that would continue for decades, strengthening workers say in their jobs.

[@derrickleroy3976]

I feel like you used the quote to opt out of making a conclusion

[@elchucabagra]

Mr beat I thought this video was about you! Just kidding. Glad you didn't die. Your subtle comedic timing is the best of all edu-tubers

[@HoustonObserver]

informative and funny

[@mathieuleader8601]

wow Addams certainly accomplished alot in her life

[@iammrbeat]

She did!

[@reginarodriguez1477]

The last time I was this early, mr beat still made presidents songs

[@iammrbeat]

That's really early.

[@nyancatsnads]

i went to an elementary school named after her ! they would play the addams family theme every day on the speaker lol

[@tgish1]

I knew of her. But not like this. What an amazing woman!!!

[@yourlocalhooman2657]

This amazing lady even gets a school named after her

[@zach7193]

Man, that was interesting.

[@iammrbeat]

Glad you thought so!

[@zach7193]

@@iammrbeat can you do the Seminole Wars?

[@iammrbeat]

I would but History House Productions already made such a great video about them. :)

[@masonwitte6822]

You know. I find your videos very informative. As a conservative republican and believes in free market captiilism. ( I would share all my other views if you'd like). I would like to learn were you lean on your political ideology. I would also like to day that I love your content.

[@James-zh2qy]

First a video about John Adams. Then a video about Jane Addams.

[@iammrbeat]

Then the Addams Family

[@wingitprod]

She sounded like a perfect heroine and villainess. Much good, but hindsight of unintended consequences (and/or) reminds me that no good deed goes unpunished. And the beat goes on...

[@UncleTee99]

So this is how we got all our different classes in school

[@MitzvosGolem1]

Eleanor Roosevelt a hero also. Seneca Falls NY alot of Sufferage women from there. "Triangle shirtwaist fire". The fire that changed America many teenaged girls immigrants in sweat shop died..terrible. My great uncle was Senator Robert Wagner who passed reforms. Social security ,Worker safety,Fire Alarms ,Child labor.. Ps: Excellent content ..

[@ariw9405]

Wow what an amazing woman and not 1 word about her in history class

[@brodricmaxson8250]

Can you do Dallas and Fort Worth compared

[@iammrbeat]

Eventually absolutely.

[@flynnbaird5684]

I went to Jane Addams middle school and didn't know any of this lol

[@Telleryn]

Damn, what a boss

[@TheUhaya]

WHAT A QUEEN

[@clproductions7609]

there’s a middle school year i live named after her

[@purpleku7768]

Nice Emporia State shirt!😜

[@carlo6670]

Can you do a video on the Spanish Flu pandemic. I think its important for us to learn the lesson from this pandemic with the Coronavirus pandemic still going on.

[@iammrbeat]

Lots of other channels already did. :/

[@shannonbeat]

Wow!

[@johnkelly879]

There is a Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in Illinois

[@marcodepril4888]

can you make a mary richmond video

[@renegarcia6569]

Jay Leno in the thumbnail

[@alg11297]

Could you do a video on the Bonus March. Very few people I've talked to have ever heard of it and would show how the government reacted to people asking for promised money.

[@scifience8297]

Please do a video on Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso

[@iammrbeat]

Not gonna lie...I had to Google who that was.

[@EforEvery]

First! (haha Mr. Beat videos can relief you from coronavirus)

[@iammrbeat]

You've totally got to be first on the First leaderboard. :D

[@qw000pz]

Yo this woman's dope

[@iammrbeat]

For realz

[@rparl]

To realize that that used to be an insult.

[@joncowley7185]

Do madrid vs barcelona

[@latorre8668]

Jon Cowley PUAJAJJJAJA

[@rparl]

The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The work of life is to develop it. The meaning of life is to give your gift away. David Viscott, 1993

[@huntertheheavy]

According to the 'bring back dislike' extension, this video has 0 dislikes. An oddity

[@MothOnFire]

Has anyone ever told you that you sound a lot like the gaming historian?

[@ryanfriedman4329]

My Elementary School is named after her.

[@iammrbeat]

Woot woot!

[@trabajosocial3.0]

Aquí puedes ver un video de un minuto sobre la vida y obra de Janes Addams en español kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWS1q3Wheq6mj7M

[@robvallee]

...And Now You Know... Nice work Mr. Beat!

[@iammrbeat]

Thanks Rob!

[@michaelnewton5873]

Public Recreation was a Addams creation for Hull House residents.

[@foxfoster1]

Please do more videos like Samuel doorsmond

[@iammrbeat]

Did you mean Samuel Dinsmoor?

[@foxfoster1]

Mr. Beat yes

[@MichaeMichaelMichael]

You sound exactly like Adam Scott.

[@iammrbeat]

Maybe I'm Adam Scott.

[@elhombredeoro955]

I also got appendicitis.

[@iammrbeat]

It sucks. Solidarity!

[@elhombredeoro955]

@@iammrbeat yes, good sir, it does.

[@renaepreska8953]

I like her😇

[@AMPProf]

Mr Beat You sick/on lockdown?????????????????????????????????

[@tellthemborissentyou]

Mr Beat what about the 10 best Supreme Court Justices and the 10 worst videos. The best to never get appointed with the best name to boot must be Judge Learned Hand.

[@iammrbeat]

I love those ideas. I'm also thinking about doing a Tier List for Supreme Court justices.

[@shinylugia5726]

Jane Addams was the face who ran the place

[@georgestermaier8553]

Does show is we all can change things to the better if we just start sg!!Only complaining and hoping public and politics will hear and do is not sufficient..as too many are not willing to listen or afraid about change.Its the small things.and engagements for each other that put societies to a next level of togetherness..sg urgently need in a world of "Me I Mine" instead of us! So...guess we should all gather our ideas and make this world a better one for everybody again!!

[@MateoQuixote]

Jane Addams, an amazing woman. She may have had Pott's disease but she sure didn't have coronavirus nor COVID-19!

[@iammrbeat]

lol indeed

[@rangergxi]

Didn't she also lead the charge on eugenics and racism towards immigrants?

[@iammrbeat]

Like most progressives, she was intrigued by and regularly discussed eugenics, but she was no more racist than any other American of the time.

[@rangergxi]

@@iammrbeat Plenty of people opposed eugenics at the time and her brand of scientific racism set the foundation for some pretty awful things. I don't really think its a minor point. Still enjoyed the video though. Didn't know the true extent of those settlement houses.

[@thedigitalodometer945]

0:48 Wait, how did Sarah Addams die from childbirth when Jane was 2 years old and the youngest of all her children?

[@ArmyJames]

The baby died along with Sarah Addams, thus leaving Jane the youngest surviving child.

[@LucianoDiPiazza4903]

How was she the youngest of eight children but her mother died in childbirth when she was two?

[@Whatafunnyhat]

*Jane shares a bed and lives with Mary Rozet Smith until death* AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

[@carolinaunion1712]

Is Jane the daughter of John Adams or John Quincy Adams?

[@geoshuailao1559]

not related

[@niallharrington3636]

@@geoshuailao1559 they are related according to the wiki for her 2nd cousin charles addam(creator of the addams family)

[@kali3665]

And with the Reprehensible Reichwingers so obsessed with Planned Parenthood, the closing of Hull House went virtually unnoticed. That was pathetic....

[@tobincharles8651]

what an extreme case of soy voice

[@whyamihere832]

Can you do Israel and Jordan Compared Israel's Capital is Jerusalem Jordan's Capital is Amman Israel Speaks Hebrew Jordan Speaks Arabic Israel's Flag 🇮🇱 Jordan's Flag 🇯🇴

[@KanyeTheGayFish69]

Egypt Mapper if he does he would have to turn off the comment section

[@iammrbeat]

Eventually, when I am feeling bold and ready, I will make a video about Israel. :)

[@lizdyson3627]

What a woman

[@shantaniahayes4405]

So we’re not going to talk about the racism hmm

[@supereero9]

Mr. Simp and the simpstory project

[@alhaah777]

She was not American. American should live for profit.

[@mikesprau9357]

Disappointed to say the least. After a search of "Jane Addams for Kids" to show my third grade class, this was suggested. I love the old, authentic photos and there is some good information. But do third graders need to be told "many historians today speculate that she was not sexually attracted to men at all, and in fact was in at least two romantic relationships with other women"? Why, just because she chose to stay single, should we speculate such a thing? And, even if it is true, does in really matter in the course of her impact on America? (BTW, this in no way influences my opinion of Addams. I just don't think it should matter from a historical point of view.)

[@Sorel366]

There is a new trend to redefine unmarried historical figures as gay. Just because they were not married does not mean they were gay. The homosexuals try to exagerrate their historical importance. No, Jame Adams and Mary Rozet Smith did not act as a married couple and claims that they were in a homosexual relationship ar epure speculation. This video is pure disinformation on that topic. "In the late 1800s and early 1900s, some women formed close bonds and lived together, but their relationships weren’t seen as sexual, says Gioia Dili-berto, the Chicago-based author of A Useful Woman: The Early Life of Jane Addams. "

[@iammrbeat]

So what you said, whether you realize it or not, is conjecture. Now, I am also referencing conjecture in my video, but at least my conjecture is backed up by several historians. My sources are in the description, btw. You have little evidence to back up your claims. You quoted Diliberto, who is a journalist, not a historian, and I question her authority on the topic. Put simply, you make assumptions, but my assumptions are based off of experts. However, perhaps you have an agenda that is driving your interpretation of history.

[@Sorel366]

@@iammrbeat You are the one making claims. I am not claiming anything you need to read my comment again. If you want to pretend they were homosexuals you need to provide evidence for it. So don't try to switch it up. Throwing around the word "experts" does not make you look smart at all. Here is an actual expert has to say : "What historians say they don't know is whether the partnership between Smith and Addams was sexual. As Louise W. Knight points out in her biography "Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy," Addams lived in an era when it was not unusual for women to set up house together in lifelong partnerships, sometimes called Boston marriages." So, with no evidence that she was lesbian, you decided to espouse a controversial theory. You are the one pushing an agenda. www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-02-06-0702060273-story.html