Jane Addams (1860-1935) was a peace activist who was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Her involvement was “instrumental in successfully lobbying for the establishment of a juvenile court system, better urban sanitation and factory laws, protective labor legislation for women, and more playgrounds and kindergartens throughout Chicago.” (5) It was during the first World War, that Addams began promoting international peace. Since her time, she has become known as the “most loved woman in America” while also “the most dangerous woman in America” because of how powerful her peace efforts were.

Though mental health has a history of being a taboo topic, it is still extremely interesting to be able to see how it was discussed in earlier times. When going through the “Jane Addams Digital Edition” it allowed me to find numerous primary sources that clearly depicted what mental health was thought of and also how those that suffered from a mental health disorder were viewed.

However, though many viewed mental health as a disease and ‘bad karma’, Addams, who was a social reform activist, supported the work that was being done in terms of bringing awareness. She wrote a letter in November 1911 to Clifford W Beers, who was the secretary for the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, praising him and members of the committee for taking upon such an important task. First Addams addressed how this committee’s focus was to help those with mental health disorders, describing their mission as “the prevention of insanity and the amelioration of the condition fo the insane.” (1) Though calling someone with a general mental health disorder as insane is quite unacceptable nowadays, it was the norm in the early twentieth century. Addams continued, however, “I can imagine nothing more valuable to any community than the carrying out of your well-considered plans.” (2)

To further demonstrate the general opinions of mental health in this time period, there was another letter, this time being written to Addams in 1917, by Carolyn Sturgis. In this letter, Sturgis writes how those that are affected by mental health ought to be arrested, otherwise, they cannot be helped. Sturgis writes in the letter to Addams, “just as you yourself will stand by what you think [is] right, so do I.” (3) Sturgis continues, “Of course the tendency of our enlightening age is to treat such people more and more by “passive restraint” but it is not possible to treat them until they have been arrested.” (4) This letter was truly eye-opening to see how mental health was viewed as something that in a way, possessed people, because the emotion demonstrated in letters and other historical documents of earlier time periods, do not necessarily demonstrate hatred, but rather fear.

Overall, mental health has never been an easy topic to discuss and it was not any easier in earlier centuries. However, social reform activists, like Jane Addams herself, helped further drive the movement forward into a more positive light. In the times I have researched mental health for other projects I have worked on, I had never come upon Addams’ involvement in the field, however, it was refreshing to see her true passion of helping others.

References:

1. Addams, Jane, “Jane Addams to Clifford W. Beers, November 9, 1911,” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed March 4, 2020, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/admin/items/show/3524.
2. Ibid.
3. Sturgis, Carolyn, “Carolyn Sturgis to Jane Addams, June/July 1917,” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed March 4, 2020, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/admin/items/show/13160.
4. Ibid.
5. Michals, Debra. “Jane Addams.” National Women’s History Museum. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/jane-addams.