Venturing into Usefulness, the second volume of The Selected Papers of Jane Addams, documents the experience of this major American historical figure, intellectual, social activist, and author between June 1881, when at twenty-one she had just graduated from Rockford Female Seminary, and early 1889, when she was on the verge of founding the Hull-House settlement with Ellen Gates Starr. During these years she was developing into the social reformer and advocate of women's rights, socioeconomic justice, and world peace she would eventually become. She evolved from a high-minded but inexperienced graduate of a women's seminary into an educated woman and seasoned traveler well-exposed to elite culture and circles of philanthropy.

Artfully annotated, The Selected Papers of Jane Addams offers an evocative choice of correspondence, photographs, and other primary documents, presenting a multi-layered narrative of Addams's personal and emerging professional life. Themes inaugurated in the previous volume are expanded here, including dilemmas of family relations and gender roles; the history of education; the dynamics of female friendship; religious belief and ethical development; changes in opportunities for women; and the evolution of philanthropy, social welfare, and reform ideas.

|List of Illustrations xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction xxv
Editorial Method xli
Abbreviations and Symbols xlvii

PART 1 Fitted for a Life of Usefulness, 1881-83
Introduction 3
DOCUMENTS
[ca. late June 1881], from Ellen Gates Starr 43
14 July 1881, from Sarah F. Anderson 44
7 Aug. 1881, from Martha Thomas 46
17 Aug. 1881, from Helen Harrington 50
21 Aug. 1881, from Isaac E. Carey 51
21 Aug. 1881, from Sarah F. Anderson 51
21 Aug. 1881, from Ellen Gates Starr 55
22 Aug. 1881, from Charles Caverno 56
26 Aug. 1881, from John Manning Linn 57
29 Aug. 1881, from T. H. Haseltine 59
3 Sept. 1881, to Ellen Gates Starr 59
10 Sept. 1881, to Ellen Gates Starr 59
11 Sept. 1881, from Sarah F. Anderson 61
16 Sept. 1881, from Mary P. Ellwood 64
21 [and 22] Sept. 1881, from Martha Thomas 66
22 [ and 27] Sept. 1881, from Eleanor Frothingham 68
1 Oct. 1881, from Helen Harrington 70
4 Oct. 1881, from Mary Catherine Addams Linn 71
26 Oct. 1881, from Sarah F. Anderson 74
16 Nov. 1881, from Sarah F. Anderson 80
19 Dec. 1881, from Sarah F. Anderson 83
24 Dec. 1881, from Sarah F. Blaisdell 84
30 Dec. 1881, from Emma L. Briggs 87
1 Jan. 1882, from Ellen Gates Starr 93
11 Jan. 1882, from Sarah F. Anderson 97
7 [and 9] Feb. 1882, from Sarah F. Anderson 98
11 Feb. 1882, from Laura A. Malburn 100
12 Feb. 1882, from George Bowman Haldeman 103
9 Mar. 1882, from Helen Harrington 106
19 Mar. 1882, to Ellen Gates Starr 108
29 Mar. 1882, from Sarah F. Anderson 108
9 Apr. 1882, from Ellen Gates Starr 109
11 [and 12] Apr. 1882, from Sarah F. Anderson 111
15 Apr. 1882, from Helen Harrington 113
14 May 1882, from Ellen Gates Starr 116
1 June 1882, from George Bowman Haldeman 117
[4 June?] [1882], from Sarah F. Anderson 119
6 June 1992, from Sarah F. Anderson 120
8 June 1882, from Mary P. Ellwood 122
[21 June] 1882, Commencement Report in the Rockford Seminary Magazine 124
26 July 1883,...