Associated Press photo U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen in 1968.

•March 14, 2018•

By Kerry Lester
The Daily Herald

The Gettysburg Address. Hull House. The nation’s first African American president — and first lady. All of these are due to Illinois’ bumper crop of political figures and politicians, who represent a diverse range of viewpoints and contributions throughout history.

Here, in alphabetical order, are some of the leaders who came from our state:

Jane Addams

A social worker and a leader in the women’s suffrage movement, Addams was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She ran Hull House, a settlement house for poor immigrants in Chicago, and co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union. She also chaired a women’s conference for peace in the Netherlands in 1919 and worked unsuccessfully to get the United States to serve as a mediator between warring countries in World War I. She died in 1935 in Chicago. I-90 in Illinois is named after her.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.