Inspiration for Hull House

As I have been reading Jane Addam's account of her life as the creator of Chicago's Hull House at the turn of the century, I began questioning whether or not religion itself is the main inspiration for the way she lived her life. As we see in the first few chapters, equality is a concept that was deeply engrained in her upbringing by her Father, who I would say is the main inspirational force in her life. The early grasp Addams had on the sense of what equality means within a society and culture is one of the main moral backbones to her Hull House projects. Whether it was through her Father's insistence on their humility with their wealthier upbringing, or his fervent love of the work of Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclaimation, Jane Addams was surrounded by the equality message throughout her childhood. This liberal and progressive outlook that her Father held may have been influenced by his religious beliefs, Quakerism, which Jane followed as well. Yet I have yet to see many references to God, or any other religious figure that serves as her foundation/inspiration for Hull House. She does not directly connect her work to the message and/or will of God, as we see with religious missionaries. I truly think it was a combination of Addam's upbringing and own approach to her own life style and education (she attended college and recieved a B.A. degree, which was very uncommon of anyone at the time, especially women) that lead her to make the social changes in Urban Chicago that she did. She was progressive in her approach to her own education, and wanted to bring this level of education and progressive thinking to the places that needed it most, poverty stricken city slums. I personally think that Jane Addam's work was incredibly inspiring and innovative for her time. Whether or not her work was an act of religion is very much debatable. I don't see much evidence of it being anything more than moral and ideological.