COURTED BY PRESIDENTS, Part 3

At the age of 2, Jane Addams lost her mother. At 4 she contracted tuberculosis of the spine, which caused a curvature in her spine and health problems the rest of her life. She was inspired by those who worked with the poor and wanted to be a doctor. After graduating from nearby Rockford Female Seminary at 21, her father died. The following fall, she along with her sister Alice, her husband and their step mother went to Philadelphia so the 3 young people could attend medical school. They only managed a year before the step mother’s health required them to return home.
The next year, her brother in law, already a doctor, did surgery to improve her spine. She traveled for 2 years and then returned home, struggling to find focus for her life. She strongly resisted the expectation that the role for all women was to marry and devote their lives to their family, as set forth by John Stuart Mill, in his book “The Subjection of Women.”
She'd had a nervous breakdown after her father’s death and at this point she struggled with depression. But reading had always given her strength. She became a Christian at 26, and set about exploring how religion and her interests might enable a life worthy of her. It took three years, but when she came home from Europe, she knew where her life was headed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Addams