 | Peace and Bread in Time of War Subjects: World War 1914–1918 -- Peace; Woman’s Peace Party; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; World War 1914–1918 -- War work; First published in 1922 during the "Red Scare," by which time Jane Addams's pacifist efforts had adversely affected her popularity as an author and social reformer, Peace and Bread in Time of War is Addams's eighth book and the third to deal with her thoughts on pacifism. Addams's unyielding pacifism during the Great War drew criticism from politicians and patriots who deemed her the "most dangerous woman in America." Even those who had embraced her ideals of social reform condemned her outspoken opposition to U.S. entry into World War I or were ambivalent about her peace platforms. Turning away from the details of the war itself, Addams relies on memory and introspection in this autobiographical portrayal of efforts to secure peace during the Great War. "I found myself so increasingly reluctant to interpret the motives of other people that at length I confined all analysis of motives to my own," she writes. Using the narrative technique she described in The Long Road of Women's Memory , an extended musing on the roles of memory and myth in women's lives, Addams also recalls attacks by the press and defends her political ideals. Katherine Joslin's introduction provides additional historical context to Addams's involvement with the Woman's Peace Party, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and her work on Herbert Hoover's campaign to provide relief and food to women and children in war-torn enemy countries. Jane Addams was born Laura Jane Addams in Cedarville, Illinois, on September 6, 1860. She graduated from Rockford Female Seminary with the hope of attending medical school. Her father opposed her unconventional ambition and, in an attempt to redirect it, sent her to Europe. In London, Addams was moved by the work done at Toynbee Hall, a settlement house. Upon her return to the United States, she began her lifelong fight for the underprivileged, women, children laborers, and social reform. In the space of four years she received Yale University's first honorary doctorate awarded to a woman, published her first book, was the first woman president of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, and was elected vice president of the National American Women Suffrage Association. In 1915 she became the first president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. With Ellen G. Starr, Addams founded Hull House in Chicago, a renowned settlement house dedicated to serving the disadvantaged and the poor. Addams went on to author twelve books, including Twenty Years in Hull House, Newer Ideals of Peace, and Peace and Bread in Time of War. The latter title was written to protest the U.S.'s involvement in World War I and was based on Addams's experience assisting Herbert Hoover in sending relief supplies to women and children in enemy nations. Hospitalized following a heart attack in 1926, Addams could not accept in person the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in 1931. She was the first American woman to receive the honor. Addams died in 1935. (Bowker Author Biography) |
