Dawn Clark Netsch on Jane Addams and Lisa Madigan

This week marks the150th birthday of Jane Addams, the beloved suffragist and champion of the poor.

One of the iconic figures in both Illinois and American history, Jane Addams helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union, devised the first public kindergarten and the first public playground, and created the first homeless women’s shelter in Chicago.

But Jane Addams is probably best known for establishing Chicago’s Hull House, where those most in need received help and support from her dedicated staff and volunteers; where tolerance, respect, civic responsibility and hope for every individual, family and community was paramount.

Probably no one can match this legacy of Jane Addams. But fortunately other women have taken up her life’s work and adapted it to meet today’s challenges. Lisa Madigan is one who has, and I admire and support her commitment.

Both Jane Addams and Lisa Madigan have shared a passion for protecting society’s most vulnerable—especially women and children—and have devoted their life’s work to keeping our families and communities safe and well.

Lisa works tirelessly to protect our children. She has launched programs to track down and arrest sexual predators and child pornographers who prey on kids on the internet. She has also working with our schools to identify and prevent cyber-bullying. She helps victims of domestic abuse find safe havens; her initiative, “Operation Serve to Protect” reduced the large number of unserved orders of protection by half.

And that is only a part of her record. She has met the challenge, and our challenge is to make sure that she can continue to support and protect our most vulnerable citizens.

I am a proud part of Women for Lisa that is mobilizing women voters across Illinois; and on this, the anniversary of one of Illinois’ most important trailblazers, I invite you to support another, Lisa Madigan.

--Dawn Clark Netsch