So as Melba mentioned earlier, we're talking about Jane Adams, the person.

And if she were still alive, the feminist, peacnick, and supporter of immigrant rights would turn 153 years old today.

Many of the causes she fought for and the ideas she developed remain vital today.

This afternoon during all things considered, our colleagues from Curious City have a

story that will examine questions about the whole house founder's sexual orientation. But right now,

we have Jane Adams' biographer Louise Knight and others to talk about her lasting legacy in Chicago

and who's taking up some of the work she started. And we'll also take a look, as I mentioned,

at the lighter side of her legacy and the role that Jane Adams played in the careers of people like Tina Faye

and why Chicago Improv owes a debt to Jane Adams. So I'd like to welcome Louise Knight,

Jane Adams' biographer to the afternoon shift. Louise, thanks for being here with us.

My pleasure. As well as WBEZ producer Monica in has been working on reporting out the story

Monica thanks for joining us so Louise let's start first of all with Jane Adams and

talk about her lasting legacy in Chicago because I think folks know about

obviously being the founder of whole house House, but can you just maybe

delineate for everyone what the major issues were, the causes that she originally championed?

Yes. Adams has always thought of first about it for Hull House, but actually the larger

proportion of her efforts were on issues and they were issues that were

political and hard fought and some of them have not yet been one she focused on immigrant rights

and worker rights and all of the related issues that arose for working girls and women in particular.

So she concerned herself with the eight-hour day for women, the minimum wage for women, because

at that time they thought the first way they could get it was for women only.

She worked on keeping families together so they wouldn't be deported under immigration laws.

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