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Meet Jane Jacobs

Jane's Story

Amazing Women

Jane's story

Jane wasn't born a New Yorker, but she adopted the city and the city adopted here. History repeated itself when she moved from the Big Apple to Canada.

  • 1916

    Jane is born on May 4 in in Scranton Pennsylvania.

  • 1935

    Jane moves to New York with her sister Betty. Jane works as a stenographer and a freelance writer for a trade magazine, where she is soon promoted to editor. During the war Jane was a reporter for Amerika and a feature writer for the U.S. State Department.

  • 1944

    Jane marries architect Robert Hyde Jacobs Jr who will support her through the many battles ahead.

  • 1955

    Jane is introduced to the neighbourhood of East Harlem where she can witness first-hand the impact of "revitalisation".

  • 1961

    Jane's first book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" is published.

  • 1968

    Jane continues to battle Robert Moses and the city to preserve whole neighbourhoods. Her courage and persistence in the face of adversity see her arrested at public meeting. This is the last straw for Jane and she decides to move to Toronto.

  • 1996

    Despite her resolution to not get involved in city matters again, Jane continues her work in Canada, where her efforts are recognised with her election to Office of the Order of Canada for her seminal writings and commentary on urban development. This is only one of many awards Jane received over the years.

  • 2006

    Jane died on April 25.

Over the years Jane wrote a number books along side articles for newspapers, specialist magazines and publications.

Below are Jane's books:

  • The Death and Life of Great American Cities
  • The Economy of Cities
  • The Question of Separatism: Quebec and the Struggle over Sovereignty
  • Cities and the Wealth of Nations
  • Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics
  • The Nature of Economies
  • Dark Age Ahead

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