ABSTRACT
Chicago was tumultuous and exciting in 1889: Immigration, industrialization, urbanization, and politics created a vortex of change. This lively chaos called out for reform and celebration, and two women, Ellen Gates Starr and Jane Addams, responded to this challenge by founding the social settlement Hull-House. Although Starr supported women's labor unions by the early 1890s, she became a more visible socialist and advocate of striking workers after 1910. E.A. Starr's greatest influence on her niece was her deeply religious life and youthful conversion to Roman Catholicism. Both Starr and Addams had highly emotional, life-changing experiences on their European tour. Addams' conversion experience became famous through her eloquent autobiography. Starr's equally profound conversion experience on this same trip remains virtually unknown and highlights their similarities and differences.
