Today, Google is honoring social activist and Hull House co-founder Jane Addams with a doodle on their homepage. Addams, who was one of the most influential reformers of the progressive era, was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 – the first American woman to receive the award.

Addams, who was born in Cedarville, Illinois in 1860, is best known for her social work – especially the creation of the Hull House in 1889. She co-founded the first settlement house in the United States with close friend and fellow activist Ellen Gates Starr.

The Hull House allowed immigrants a place to land when they arrived in the country. The original Hull House expanded to 13 buildings by 1911, and featured educational and artistic programs for the immigrants. The Hull House started a wave of settlement houses in the U.S. – that number growing to over 500 in the few decades following the Hull House’s opening.

The Hull House today

Addams was a feminist philosopher, laying the groundwork for women’s suffrage in the early 1900s. She worked tirelessly to help the plight of the poor, marginalized, and under-educated.

“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life,” said Addams.

Today’s Google Doodle features a depiction of the Hull House and its focus on education and children. Addams died in 1935 at the age of 74 after ongoing complications from a heart attack as well as cancer.

Images via Wikimedia Commons