By Sharon Bushell

 I thought it prudent to Google “philanthropy” before writing this essay, as I could think of nothing to add to the topic that is not obvious. I found almost three million sites for that one word, and more than three million more when I input “philanthropy ideas.” If you are searching for an essay on the topic, another 2,400,000 are available.I began to read.

The current philosophies and practices of philanthropy are easy to access, but with a little more sleuthing I found an essay by Jane Addams, published in 1893 that interested me more.

In “Philanthropy and Social Progress,” she wrote, “We are all uncomfortable in regard to the sincerity of our best phrases, because we hesitate to translate our philosophy into the deed.

“Nothing so deadens the sympathies and shrivels the power of enjoyment as the persistent keeping away from great opportunities for helpfulness and a continual ignorance of the starvation struggle which makes up the life of at least half the race. To shut one’s self away from that half … is to shut one’s self away from the most vital part of it; it is to live out but half the humanity which we have been heir to, and to use but half our faculties.”

In 1889, Jane Addams co-founded Hull House, the best known settlement house in the United States. Located on the west side of Chicago, its doors opened to throngs of recently arrived European immigrants, a mix of various ethnic groups. There was no discrimination of race, religion, language, creed or tradition. Everyone was treated with respect.

Her words reflections of her everyday experiences are vivid and timeless.

“You may remember the forlorn feeling which occasionally seizes you when you arrive early in the morning, a stranger in a great city. The stream of laboring people goes past as you gaze through the plate-glass window of your hotel. You see hardworking men lifting great burdens; you hear the driving and jostling of huge carts. Your heart sickens with a sudden sense of futility. The door opens behind you and you turn to the man who brings you in your breakfast with a quick sense of human fellowship. You find yourself praying that you may never lose your hold on it all.”

Reading that passage, my first thought was that Miss Addams was praying for herself and her readers, that they would never find themselves destitute, needing to lift great burdens for a pitiful wage. Then I heaved in a load of firewood, thought it over and realized I was wrong.

Her intent is clear by the “quick fellowship” she feels for the man carrying her breakfast. Her prayer is that she never lose compassion for all humans.

When asked to submit this essay, originally I had thought to write about philanthropy among young people. I discovered that it too is a topic easily accessed, with long lists of specific youngsters who are undertaking to better the world.

Miss Addams, it turns out, also pondered the subject.

“… I think it is hard for us to realize how many (young people) are taking to the notion of human brotherhood, and how eagerly they long to give tangible expression to the democratic ideal … (They realize that) the good which we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain, is floating in midair, until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.”

Born of Quaker parents in 1860, Jane Addams did not content herself with the building of Hull House or the many programs, from nurseries to college courses, that she put in place. She passionately believed in the need for research into the causes of poverty and crime, in the importance of trained social workers, and in social actions to press for reforms. She organized civic groups to pressure legislatures and officials. Her efforts helped establish the first eight-hour law for working women, the first state child-labor law, housing reform and the first juvenile court.

She ends her essay with this: “It is easy in writing a paper to make all philosophy point to one particular moral and all history adorn one particular tale. I hope you forgive me for reminding you that the best speculative philosophy sets forth the solidarity of the human race. The highest moralists have taught that, without the advance and improvement of the whole, no man can hope for any lasting improvement in his own moral or material individual consideration.”

Every time I fly, I think about the warning, in case of an emergency, to inflate your own life vest first. What if my young child were sitting next to me? Or my aged mother? I think I’d slip their vest on, and inflate their oxygen supply, regardless of what I’ve been endlessly told. I would react emotionally. Perhaps dangerously.

Were she living today, I’m certain Miss Addams would have the presence of mind to inflate her own life vest first, as she would know the truth: It is the only way to begin helping others.

Homer resident Sharon Bushell has been collecting stories of individuals for more than 20 years. Her work gathering memories of Alaska pioneers earned her the Alaska Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities in 2004. In 2007, she was hired by the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council to conduct and edit close to 100 interviews of individuals directly involved with the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Her book co-authored with Stan Jones is “The Spill:Personal Stories from the Exxon Valdez Disaster.”

This article published in the Homer News, www.homernews.com, Wednesday, December 23, 2009, part of a year-long series of articles on philanthropy generated by volunteers for the Homer Foundation.