Join Hull-House virtually for Jane Addams 160 birthday celebration! Author Anya Jabour’s new biography, Sophonisba Breckinridge: Championing Women’s Activism in Modern America (University of Illinois Press/ 2019) highlights Sophonisba Breckinridge’s remarkable career as an educator and activist. Breckinridge, a native of Kentucky, spent her adult life in Chicago, where she became a tireless advocate of social justice. A close colleague of Jane Addams and a Hull-House resident, she advocated for labor legislation for workers, voting rights for women, social services for immigrants, civil rights for blacks, and financial support for poor families. Breckinridge took part in virtually every reform campaign of the Progressive and New Deal eras and became a nationally and internationally renowned figure. Her work informed women’s activism for decades and continues to shape progressive politics today.
