Politics & Prose at Busboys and Poets, 14th & V, presents John Sorensen to discuss his new book A Sister's Memories: The Life and Work of Grace Abbott from the Writings of Her Sister, Edith Abbott.
The Abbott sisters, Edith and Grace, may be less well known than their fellow activist Jane Addams, but the Abbotts were tireless advocates for the poor, women, and children. Edith had a doctorate in economics, spent time with the Webbs in Britain and Addams at Hull House, taught at Wellesley and served as dean of the School of Social Service Administration. She also wrote a memoir of Grace, who focused on immigrant rights and especially on children’s welfare; Grace was drafting language against child labor into the Social Security Act at the time of her death. Sorensen, founder of the Abbott Sisters Project and editor of The Grace Abbott Reader, has seamlessly put together Edith’s notes and drafts for this portrait of Grace and the sisters’ pioneering social justice work.
