Addams' lectures at the founding meeting of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education on November 16, 1906, at Cooper Union, commenting on the need for practical education that works in the modern world. The speech was published in January 1907.
Addams gave this speech at a public meeting held by the Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, at Cooper Union, along with Henry Pritchett, Frank Vanderlip, Frederick Fish, Nicholas Murray Butler, Frank P. Sargent, and others. Addams' appeal, unlike the other speakers, identified with the plight of working people and argued that industrial education would better their lives.
