Hull House City Government

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Hull House and City Government

Hull House was founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr on September 18, 1889 on the west side of Chicago. Constructed in an urban and poor part of Chicago the 19th ward had conditions that were dangerously unhealthy. Hull House tried to change that, but the government opposed a lot of their tactics. The upcoming and progress of Hull House was a difficult challenge back in the 1900’s. Jane Addams changed a lot of things that benefited the community, but it was a tough battle with the city government to do so.

The 19th ward was very unsanitary and dirty due to the fact that the city government didn’t really do much about it. Stated in the Chicago Tribune “At that time, the city let yearly contracts to the
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They had pursued the city contract for trash haulers and street cleaners. The city was taking bids to see who would clean the 19th ward, Hull House made a bid. As the article from the Chicago Tribune states “Addams' bid failed after the administration managed to quash it by ruling that her paperwork lacked a key affidavit claiming that she could actually do the work.” This enraged Hull House. After being declined, Hull House then went to complain to the city officials about the poor garbage system. The mayor was irritated by this and to shut them up, he appointed Jane Addams as the official garbage inspector. Once appointed she took this job very seriously and made the 19th ward as clean as possible. She maintained it by following trash wagons making sure that they picked up everything until the last and tiniest piece. If they did not comply with her, she became tough and persistent with them. She did such a good job and even threatened landlords to take them to court if they didn’t contain their garbage. The 19th ward was now a sanitary and elegant place to live …show more content…
As our sources tell us, “The position of ward garbage collector was a coveted one, since it was a stepping stone to higher political power.” Powers felt determined to take out Jane Addams so he had the garbage inspector post eliminated by ordinance and replaced to where only men are able to get the job. That led to the filthiness of the 19th ward again, but didn’t stop the efforts of Hull House maintaining it. The influence of Hull House helped the ward be aware of the government and its lack of work to maintain it. In the end, the government won and appointed someone that was loyal to them for the