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Jane Addams Birthday Party Features Trans Activist, Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon

By DNAinfo Staff | September 2, 2014 4:41am
 A Transgender activist and prisoner reform advocate, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (r.), will give a talk at a day-long series of events celebrating Jane Addams' birthday this week.
A Transgender activist and prisoner reform advocate, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (r.), will give a talk at a day-long series of events celebrating Jane Addams' birthday this week.
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NEAR WEST SIDE — A transgender activist and prisoner reform advocate will give a talk at a day-long series of events celebrating Jane Addams' birthday this week.

Jane Addams, widely regarded as the founder of social work and the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, was born on Sept. 6, 1860.

In its ninth annual celebration, the Hull-House Museum, 800 S. Halsted St., is bringing in Miss Major Griffin-Gracy on Thursday for a talk entitled, "The Ebb and Flow of Resistance." She runs the California-based TransgenderVarient Intersex Justice Project which advocates for transgender people both inside and outside of jail.

"Raised in Chicago, her life intersects LGBT struggles, prison rights, sex positivity and equality from the 1960s to today," a Facebook post about the event says. Griffin-Gracy was involved in the Stonewall uprising in New York in 1969 and the 1971 Attica State prison uprising.

Addams was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2008, although there is some debate as to whether she was a lesbian or not.

While Miss Major's talk will take place from 7 to 9 p.m., Hull-House officials said they organized an earlier session from noon-4 p.m. Thursday to create a Wikipedia entry for Miss Major.

"When the Hull-House staff realized that our beloved and fierce speaker for the 2014 Jane Addams' Birthday Conversation did not have an entry in Wikipedia, we knew we needed to help queer the most popular encyclopedia in the world," an invitation to the event reads.

Those who want to take part in the edit-a-thon should bring a laptop; pizza will be served.

Finally, starting at 9 p.m. there will be an after party at the Progress Bar, 3359 N. Halsted St. The bar will hold it's "monthly queer co-ed dance-off."

While tickets are free to all three events, organizers say participants should RSVP to the edit-a-thon and Miss Major's talk.

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