The Progressive Era

At the beginning of the Progressive Era, 1890, the reform efforts were primarily to “clean up the nation’s cities,” but as the momentum cycled into full swing it turned into a much larger project than originally anticipated (Schultz 2014). The two main groups who were involved were the followers of Social Gospel and women, but later, as interest increased Progressivism found its way into political circles and other forums. The middle class was especially attracted to the idea, but only if it did not intrude on their everyday lives which turned out to be impossible. Moreover, as it grew it changed shape to influence how administrators were selected, how our education systems developed, and it aided in improving the workforce community. The primary reason for the spread of Progressivism throughout the nation was by the media, otherwise through journalism (Schultz 2014). The group of writers famous for exposing just what the poverty stricken had to do to survive was referred

The list grew when Progressivism began to include visions of national parks and by incorporating experts to study problems in society. Through the efforts of reformers formed settlement houses where the leaders could observe and study how the other half lived. These “safe” houses were in poor neighborhoods, where most homes were considered dilapidated and limited on sanitation services (Schultz 2014). An example of which is the Hull House founded in Chicago by Jane Addams in 1889, where she resided for 20 years. The object of reformers was to share the values of the middle-class hoping it would lead the lower-class to adopt a new way of living. The personal goal of the women who lived at Hull House was to eliminate prostitution by closing the red-light districts (Schultz