Jane Adams, Garbage Inspector

I. Summer 1894

A. Pullman Strike--the ongoing railroad strike tied up rail traffic in the western part of the country.

B. Mary Addams Linn--Jane's eldest sister was gravely ill during this summer, and separated temporarily from her husband, who had just taken on a new pastorate. Because of the strike, he did not make it back to Mary before she passed on.

C.  Care of the "Linnettes"--in her will, sister Mary left the care of her minor children--Esther, age 14 and Stanley, age 11--to the care of her sister Jane, rather than to her husband. Stanley is a bit of a sickly child, so this gave Jane extra incentive to take care of the garbage problem that had been festering in the  neighborhood since Hull House was established.

II. The Garbage Problem

A. Population density--the fact that people were closely confined in poorer neighborhoods, combined with the fact that they received inadequate city services, and lived in neglected properties, contributed to this problem.

B. Chicago Politics--while the mayor was not without a great deal of power, most power lay in the hands of ward aldermen in Chicago.

1. John Powers--"Johnny da Pow" was alderman of the 19th Ward from 1888 to 1927.  Powers was a saloon keeper  in Bridgeport (the  home of the Dailey clan--Richard J. and  Richard  M, the current mayor of Chicago).

a. Each ward had two aldermen; the most infamous were the aldermen for the First Ward--"Hinky-Dink" Kenna and "Bathhouse John" Coughlin, who got a cut from most all the vice that occurred in the First Ward  fiefdom.

2. Reformers--mayoral candidates regularly ran in Chicago promising to "clean-up" municipal politics--but their subordination to city council really prevented reform from taking place.

3. Appointment as Garbage Inspector--Addams did not place a great deal of  emphasis on the  cleanliness of the neighborhood until she took on the responsibility of raising here sister Mary's children.

a.  Rejected bid--Addams  and her Hull House team made a careful study of the situation,  and then submitted a bid to be given the position. Her bid was rejected on a technicality, but Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison, Jr., gave her the position, anyway--despite the protest from the aldermen, who did not want to see the $1,000 the appointee received go outside their political machine.

C. On the job--Addams and another Hull House resident rode around the neighborhood to ensure the firm they contracted actually did the work they were being paid to do.

1. Animal carcasses--the two women also made sure that animal carcasses were disposed of.

2. Hull House incinerator--was installed, and neighbors were encouraged to bring some of their garbage to the incinerator; later in the 20th century, this became a major means of disposing of garbage

D.  Civil Service--The State of Illinois made these garbage inspector positions Civil Service protected; this later leads to  Addams losing her position, when an alderman proposed that the position become a city civil service position--which by law meant that women could not hold the position.

III. Conclusion