The Long Road of Woman's Memory

Wild rumors of a Devil Baby--a child who has miniature horns and a forked tail and appears in retribution for a husband's cruelty--at Hull-House brought a flood of curiosity-seekers to Jane Addams's door. To her surprise, many of the most adamant about seeing the Devil Baby were older, working-class, immigrant women.These women, usually rather withdrawn from the community, seemed to spring to life in response to this apocryphal story--and to be inspired to tell stories of their own. The tales they shared with Addams in the wake of the Devil Baby were more personal and revealing than any they had previously told her: stories of abusive mates, lost or neglectful children, and endless, ill-paid menial labor endured on behalf of loved ones. In response to these sometimes wrenching conversations, Addams wrote The Long Road of Woman's Memory, an extended musing on the role of memory and myth in women's lives.