Hull-House as Queer Counterpublic: How the Present "Outs" the Past

• In Event: Queering Dewey and Challenging Democratic Ideals: Examining Policies and Discourses of Diversity

Abstract

Guided by historical analysis and queer theory, I examine the ways that Jane Addams’ Hull-House Settlement House in Chicago created a radically new kind of “strange” space: a queer counterpublic. It created a safe space for not only immigrants, but also for educated Progressive women who explored non-(hetero) normative female subjectivities. To connect its past and present, I examine how, today, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum (JAHHM) still symbolizes the radical. I argue that he museum itself “outs” the history of Hull-House and its queer past because it is considered by its contemporary caretakers, curators, and queer theorists as a queer counterpublic, and a legacy of Addams’ Progressive ideals.

Author

• Maureen P. Hogan, The University of Alaska - Fairbanks