Chapter 4 examines Breckinridge’s participation in social reform in the Progressive era. In conjunction with Jane Addams and other women reformers associated with Hull House, Breckinridge advocated for a wide range of reforms and formulated the doctrine of a national minimum standard of living that would inform her later participation in the creation of the welfare state. She also fused her participation in social reform circles with her leadership in the emerging social work profession by using social science as the basis for social reform. Through her teaching and research first at the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy and then at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration, Breckinridge established a niche for herself in Progressive-era reform that relied upon her professional status and her scholarly expertise to legitimize political protest and advance social reform.