Friday, May 18, 2007

The timeline of Jane Addam’s life on the website ‘Urban Experience in Chicago’ stood out as religious to me as I was browsing along. The use of pictures with little text captions reminded me of the Stations of the Cross. This timeline is an image-based journey that shows Jane Addam’s road to saving the poor in Chicago through the development of her Hull House and her acquired fame for such a humane act. This is like the Stations of the Cross in that the stations depict Jesus’ journey to saving all people by his death on the cross through images of his struggle. Although, Jane Addam’s timeline also includes pictures of people that influenced her life and helped her along on her mission and her earlier family life is also described whereas Jesus’ stations focus only on his greatest effort to save humanity. The timeline shows Jane Addams as a hero and celebrity figure, similar to Jesus, by picturing Jane in almost every photo and when using photos that include other people set Addams as the spotlight figure, one in which everyone is looking to and listening to. One photo in particular that illustrates Addams’ popularity and distinction is the photo taken in 1934 near the end of her life picturing Jane Addams’ at the foot of the steps outside what looks to be the Hull House, in front of a crowd of children all intently listening to Addams speak. Another photo that showed her importance and status in the community was a picture taken at her wake. The picture is an aerial photo that shows a portion of a street in Chicago crowded with people wanting to say a last good bye to their hero, Jane Addams. The crowded street shows Addams’ impact on the entire city as one of importance and worthy of a gathering after her death.

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