November
12, 2010
Reform and Immigration in Chicago: Hull-House Alumnae in
Action
The Professor and the Prostitute: Sophonisba Breckinridge and the
Morals Court in Depression-Era Chicago Anya Jabour, University of
Montana
In 1930, Sophonisba Breckinridge, Professor of Social Service Administration
at the University of Chicago, launched a campaign to investigate and reform
legal procedures in the Morals Court, a specialized municipal court established
to deal with accused prostitutes. Hailed as a model progressive reform at the
time of its inception in 1913, by 1930 the Morals Court was plagued by routine
violations of due process as well as charges of police corruption and
institutionalized racism. Breckinridge1s campaign to secure civil rights for
accused prostitutes offers a new perspective on the politics of prostitution and
on feminist activism in the interwar period.
Hilda Satt Polacheck (1882-1967):
Worker, Writer, ‘Hull House Girl'Bridget K. O'Rourke,
Elmhurst College
Commentator: Rima Lunin Schultz, Independent Scholar
If you are planning to be in Chicago on November 12th, register for this terrific seminar on Sophonisba Breckinridge. Anya Jabour, an excellent historian, will be presenting a paper for discussion about a campaign by this innovative professor to reform the way the police and the court treated women of color.