Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

As the current Zeitgeist mulls immigration, a stop at the Jane Addams Hull House Museum may serve us well. Hull House was a Near West Side settlement house co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr open to newly arrived European immigrants. Italian, Irish, German, Greek, Russian, Polish, African American and Mexican immigrants were able to put down roots and enjoy day care for children of working mothers; an employment bureau; art gallery and library, cultural events and English and citizenship classes. In a time when people are lauded for Instagram photos of their vacations, learning about this remarkable woman who forged a powerful reform movement that helped children, women, union workers and minorities is nothing if not humbling. The museum that honors Addams, the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and her influence on civil rights and women's suffrage includes documents, furniture, photographs and artifacts.