Forty Years at Hull-House. By Jane Addams. First Combined Edition, First Printing. Macmillan. New York, 1935.

Jane Addams was one of the most influential activists in American history. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, she was a prominent figure in the Women’s Rights Movement, the Settlement Movement, and countless other activist causes. She was also a chapter member of the NAACP and a co-founder of the ACLU. In 1931, she won the Nobel Peace Prize. While her accomplishments are many, perhaps none were more impactful in her lifetime than her work at Hull House–a Chicago mansion she converted into a settlement house where the era’s countless immigrants could stay while they found work and established themselves in America. The initiative was badly needed. Tens of thousands of immigrants were arriving in Chicago during the period without adequate housing or resources. Hull House subsequently became the model from which other settlement houses were established across the country. In this volume, Addams’ important project is recounted through the combination of two previous titles–Twenty Years at Hull-House, first published in 1910, and The Second Twenty Years at Hull-House, first published in 1930. These combined texts showcase Addams’ thoughtful commentary on American social issues, her ability to weave in narrative, and numerous full-page illustrations from the period.

This first combined edition, first printing is in very good condition. In the original red cloth, very good with only minor bumping and rubbing to edges, some soiling, and fading to spine. Text block about-fine, only soiling and rubbing to edges and former owner’s inscription to front free endpaper. Lacking the original dust jacket.

A very good first combined edition of Jane Addams’ writings on Hull House.