Join us on Jane Addams Day, December 10th, 2008 to celebrate those who work for peace and justice with Marian Wright Edelman, legendary civil rights activist and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund. Edelman will read from and discuss her new book The Sea is So Wide and My Boat is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation. A tea reception will accompany the conversation!
On December 10, 1931, Jane Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The State of Illinois honors her memory with a commemorative holiday to remind us of her lifelong commitment to making the city of Chicago and the world a more just and peaceful place.
Free and open to the public. For more information, call 312.413.5353.
This event is co-sponsored by Jane Addams Hull House Museum, The Public Square, Institute for Race and Research on Public Policy at UIC, Gender and Women Studies at UIC, African American Studies at UIC, and Women and Children First Bookstore.
About the Keynote Speaker
Marian Wright Edelman is the legendary civil rights activist and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). Edelman obtained a law degree at Yale and worked in Mississippi, becoming the first African-American woman to be admitted to that state’s bar. As a leader with the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, Edelman helped coordinate the Poor People’s Campaign after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. She founded the Children’s Defense Fund in the 1970s, to apply pressure on the federal government to help poor children, and to coordinate nationwide activities to help children. Considered the nation’s most powerful children’s lobby, CDF secured the 1990 Act for Better Child Care, bringing more than $3 billion into daycare facilities and other programs. Many consider this law the first federal government acknowledgment that children matter. With 14.3 million American children living in poverty, Edelman continues her advocacy, focusing on expanding Head Start, health care and support for homeless children. She is the recipient of several awards for her work, including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. In l993 Edelman published her book, The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours. In her new book, The Sea is So Wide and My Boat is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation, she presents her thoughts on the current and future state of the care of children in the United States.
Jane Addams Day events will also be held on December 7th from 12:00pm – 4:00pm at the Hull-House Museum, including theater for young people, craftivism projects for young and old, music by the legendary Jon Langford, and delicious holiday treats by Tara Lane.
For more information, call 312.413.5353.