=226. Jane Addams.= There was still another great and vital field of service waiting for a leader. This was the cause of a better chance in life for the very poor. A better understanding among all people, rich and poor, and a knowledge of the interests which all have in common are aiding in this. Education, reform of unjust working conditions, and social service--the help or relief of poor or unfortunate people--are all means of progress through which people like Jane Addams have worked. In 1883 while traveling in Europe, Jane Addams, a daughter of wealthy and distinguished parents, was deeply touched by the terrible poverty and misery she saw everywhere around her. She herself had never known want or hunger. Indeed she had more wealth than she knew how to spend for things she herself needed or cared for. [Illustration: JANE ADDAMS _From a recent photograph_] [Sidenote: =Devotes herself to social service=] She determined to devote herself and her fortune to a fairer distribution of the world's goods and pleasures among those who were always hungry and in want. It was a vast undertaking, but Miss Addams was not dismayed. She hoped that some day the rich and the educated would see that all men are equal and would unite with the unfortunate in one great brotherhood. [Sidenote: =Hull House Social Settlement founded=] She returned to Chicago, and there with a group of workers established a social settlement in a building in a poor quarter of the city and called it Hull House. There everyone, however poor, was welcomed. People could come there for advice or help. Through personal influence they were led to become acquainted with the best books, to cultivate their minds, and to meet each other at times for study or social enjoyment. [Sidenote: =The settlement a success=] Men and women from all parts of the country and from abroad visited Hull House to see what Miss Addams and all her fellow-workers, through personal service, were doing to make the lives of the poor people around them a little brighter and happier. They found Hull House a success. The neighborhood was like a great family whose members sought each other's welfare. They regarded Miss Addams as one of themselves. This was a bit of the human brotherhood of which Miss Addams had dreamed. [Sidenote: =Greater opportunities for women=] =227. What Has Been Accomplished.= These great women of whom we have read have worked for the advancement, not alone of their sex, but of all mankind in the United States and the world over.