From press release

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens will present Pastor Amy Nyman who will portray Jane Addams in celebration of her 150th Birthday at 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 11.

Jane Addams was a late 19th/early 20th century American born in Cedarville, Ill. She attended college in Rockford at the Rockford Female Seminary, which was destined to become today’s Rockford College.

The nieces of Mary Dorr Tinker, Jessie and Marcia Dorr, lived in the Tinker household at Tinker Swiss Cottage and attended classes at the Rockford Seminary with Jane Addams. Marcia was asked by Jane Addams to come to Chicago to help run the Hull House cafeteria, bur Marcia refused in deference to her duties as secretary to her Uncle Robert Tinker.

Addams founded Hull House in Chicago’s 19th Ward and almost single-handedly invented social work. A peace activist on an international scale, Jane won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, becoming the first American woman to be so honored. Jane Addams is considered “the only saint America ever produced.”

Pastor Amy Nyman was an intern at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church from 1991 to 1992. After graduating from Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, she served various congregations until retiring in 2005.

Nyman will share stories in the person of Jane Addams about the Christmas holidays and how they were celebrated at the Hull House.

In Rockford history, the Montague House that was located in southwest Rockford and operated by the Rockford Woman’s Club became Rockford’s Hull House, offering after-school activities to the boys and girls of southwest Rockford. The Montague House was the site of the first Rockford Community Christmas tree Dec. 24, 1913. Robert Tinker attended the tree lighting and documented the event in his journal.

Admission to the Jane Addams program presented by Pastor Amy Nyman is free with general admission to Tinker Swiss Cottage. Visitors may either take the 1 p.m. tour prior to the presentation, or the 3 p.m. tour following the presentation. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for senior citizens, $3 for students ages 5-17, and free for members of Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Children 4 and younger.

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens is at 411 Kent St., in southwest Rockford. For more information, call (815) 964-2424 or e-mail bbroyles@tinkercottage.com ^[1]. For information about other programs and events, visit the Tinker website at tinkercottage.com ^[2].