12. Jane Addams
Jane Addams was such a well-known social activist and reformer in her day that she became known as the Mother of Social Work. One of the co-founders of Hull House, a settlement house in Chicago, Addams promoted open debate, empirical analysis, and individual study as the residents and visitors to the house investigated the leading issues affecting society at the time, including drug use, poor housing, truancy among children, urban crime, disease, and sanitation. Her work in Chicago expanded and her followers opened similar facilities in cities all over the country, many of which remain in operation in the twenty-first century.