Browse Items (1845 total)

President Wilson asks Congress to finance a number of new naval ships and aircraft carriers. The country begins a heated debate about American military preparedness. Addams and other peace activities mobilize against an increase in military spending…

Addams, Alice Hamilton, and a group of Quakers from the United States and England visit Germany and survey the efforts of the Society of Friends to relieve hunger. In Leipzig, they observed hungry and malnourished school children and speak with…

Though Wilson and Addams found themselves on opposite sides of the war, and Addams had been vilified and was under government surveillance, Wilson expresses "peculiar gratification" for her continued political support. (Quoted in Linn, Jane Addams,…

Upon her return to the United States Addams travels across the country to raise funds for famine relief in Germany. Her reception is not without controversy, however, as some accuse her of "Germanism" for her pacifist beliefs and activities on…

With Lucia Ames Mead and Sophonisba Breckenridge, Addams give testimony before the United States House of Representative's Committee on Foreign Affairs on the plan for an international conference of neutral countries for the purpose of bringing an…

Addams speaks before the Chicago Woman's Club about the police and the spike in the number of arrests the year before. Chicago sees close to 84,000 arrests in 1913 (comparatively, Chicago sees close to 50,000 arrests by mid December of 2016). Addams…

At Recital Hall, on Michigan Avenue, in Chicago, Addams gives an address in which she is critical of the government's having rounded up and arrested, for the purpose of deportation, suspected radicals affiliated with socialist, anarchist, and other…

Addams speaks at a mass meeting at the Central YMCA regarding peace between the United States and Mexico. Resolutions attempting to bring peace between the two countries are passed. The resolutions ask for the suspension of military and naval…

Addams speaks at a peace conference at the Hotel La Salle in Chicago. The international conference is free and open to the public. The purpose of the meeting is to adopt a plan for an early end of the war and find ways to promote it.

Addams speaks at a national suffrage convention at the Columbia Theatre in Washington. The women urge President Wilson to endorse women's suffrage. The New York Times reports that nearly one thousand women representing every state, Hawaii, and Alaska…

At St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University, Addams addresses the importance of a strong association labor organizations to the creation of a new international order. In the speech, one in a series she will make against militarism, Addams tells…

The United States Food Administration is established in August of 1917 for the purpose of relieving starvation in war-torn Europe. President Wilson appoints Herbert Hoover, the former head of the Belgian Relief Organization, to run the effort. (In…

Addams despairs upon hearing the news that Europe is at war. She spots a German ocean liner anchored in Frenchman's Bay, Maine, not far from her summer cottage. She believes that the war will turn back the clock on social progress and take a toll on…

In the essay "Peace on Earth," published in the Christmas edition of The Ladies' Home Journal, Addams writes about international arbitration and a world court as well as the monetary costs for the up-keep of armaments. Addams also addresses social…

Addams delivers a speech, “Pacifism and Patriotism in Time of War," in May, in Chicago, before the Chicago City Club, and again in Evanston (on June 10), at the First Congregational Church (1445 Hinman Avenue). She receives fierce criticism in the…

The party meets to discuss a wide variety of subjects including actions neutral nations can take to shorten the war, military training, and foreign investments. The business sessions discuss the creation of a joint committee to study relations…

In testimony before the United States House of Representative's Military Affairs Committee, Addams opposes steps toward military preparedness, especially an immediate increase in military spending, arguing that the United States does not face an…

Congress adopts the Conscription Act and the Espionage Act. During hearings for both the conscription legislation, Addams and others ask, without success, for Congress to add an exemption for draft-age men who have ethical or broadly religious…

When the women arrive in Rome, Italy, a very patriotic picture greets them, because Italy has only days earlier declared war on Austria-Hungary and Germany. Much like the previous meetings, in Rome Addams and Jacobs present the Hague conference…

Foreign Minister Theophile Delcasse and Prime Minister Rene Viviani meet with the Addams and Jacobs. Addams and Jacobs find France bitter and immovable, and they dread their meetings with French women suffragettes. French pacifists are deeply…

Addams meets with Foreign Minister d'Avignon. He takes the delegation's mission seriously. Even though he expresses great feelings for peace, the minister tells the women that Belgium is in the hands of her allies and peace negotiations are up to…

In Budapest, Addams holds a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Istvan Tisza. Addams also gives a public lecture.

In Bern, Switzerland, Addams and Jakobs meet with President Motta and Foreign Minister Hoffman. Motta tells Addams that now is not the time for neutral nations to meet and discuss a quick resolution to the war. He reassures her that Switzerland is…

Addams and Jacobs meet with Prime Minister Cort van der Linden and Foreign Minister Loudon. Of the meeting with the Dutch officials, Addams writes in a letter to Mary Rozet Smith: "I have not lost my head. There is just one chance in 10 thousand….…

Addams and Jacobs have separate meetings with British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey. Asquith and Lord Grey reject the proposal for mediation, telling the delegates that the war must continue.

Addams and Jacobs meet with Prime Minister Carl Stürgkh and Foreign Minister Stephan Burian. The prime minister dismisses Addam's self-deprecating comment about his meeting with a group of women to discuss their plan for a mediated end to the war. …

In response to a proclamation by President Wilson, churches across the nation hold services to pray for peace. At a meeting hall in Chicago, Addams, along with the governor of Illinois and religious leaders, petition for peace. Police reserves are…

The Women's Peace Party (WPP) passes a platform at the Willard Hotel, in Washington, D.C. The program they adopt has eleven resolutions similar to those of the CEF, but the WPP goes a step further and calls on the world's citizens to take war…

In the weeks that follow, Addams is criticized by some women peace activists in Europe for her having withdrawn, in 1915, from her leadership role in opposing the war. She also comes under attack from opponents of the peace movement. Among them is…