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Charlotte Emerson Brown

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American club-woman and creator of the General Federation of Women's Clubs (1838–1895)
Charlotte Emerson Brown
circa 1870-1890, photo by H.J. Brady
BornCharlotte Emerson
(1838-04-21)April 21, 1838
Andover, Massachusetts, US
DiedFebruary 5, 1895(1895-02-05) (aged 56)
Newark, New Jersey, US
OccupationProgressive organizer
RelativesAntoinette Brown Blackwell, sister-in-law
Signature

Charlotte Emerson Brown (April 21, 1838 – February 5, 1895) was an American woman notable as the creator and first president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC), a progressive women's movement in America beginning in the 1890s. During her presidency, membership expanded quickly from 50 cultural clubs to several hundred, and grew to representing tens of thousands of women. She was instrumental in the GFWC's formation of state-level organizations.

Early life and education

Brown was born in Andover, Massachusetts to Reverend Ralph Emerson and Eliza Rockwell. Brown's father was a professor of ecclesiastical history and pastoral theology at Andover Theological Seminary.

Brown was an avid reader and student who spoke many languages. She graduated from the Abbot Academy of Andover.

Career

Brown taught in Montreal with Hannah Lyman, Vassar's first female president, and studied business in Chicago. Brown's first clubs were a music club and a French club, and her home in Illinois hosted literary, musical and artistic events. She worked part time as a teacher; from 1879-1880, she served as Jane Addams's teacher of the German language.

"A Woman of the Century"

She became president of the Woman's Club of Orange. In 1890, she was elected president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, an organization which encouraged women to educate themselves and become advocates in their communities. Members advocated for clean milk, street lights, and libraries, as well as for regulations regarding child labor and child and maternal health. According to one viewpoint, the exclusion of men in these clubs was helpful in allowing women to develop their own leadership skills. Under Brown's leadership, the organization grew from an initial meeting of delegates from sixty-one clubs to 475,000 U.S. women from 2,865 clubs in the mid-1920s, and was notable for assisting the career development of advocates such as Eleanor Roosevelt. Membership peaked at 830,000 members in 1955. Brown served as the organization's president until 1894.

Personal life

Brown married William Bryant Brown on July 20, 1880, a congregational pastor who served parishes in several states. The couple settled in East Orange, New Jersey. Charlotte Brown died on February 4, 1895.

Notes

  1. Note: Blackwell was the first female ordained as a Protestant minister in the United States.
  2. Willard & Livermore (1893) refer to the organization as "General Federation of Women's Literary Clubs".
  3. Note: not Ralph Waldo Emerson.

References

  1. Teske, Robin L.; Tétreault, Mary Ann (2000-01-01). Conscious Acts and the Politics of Social Change. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781570033315.
  2. ^ Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary A. (1893-01-01). "Charlotte Emerson Brown". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Charles Wells Moulton. p. 125.
  3. ^ "Charlotte Emerson Brown - American clubwoman". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  4. ^ "Mrs. Charlotte Emerson Brown - Old News". oldnews.aadl.org. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  5. Bryan, Mary Lynn; Bair, Barbara; Angury, Maree de; Addams, Jane (2010-10-01). The Selected Papers of Jane Addams: vol. 1: Preparing to Lead, 1860-81. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252090677.
  6. ^ Bryan, Mary Lynn; Bair, Barbara; Angury, Maree de; Addams, Jane (2010-10-01). The Selected Papers of Jane Addams: vol. 1: Preparing to Lead, 1860-81. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252090677.
  7. ^ Mankiller, Wilma P. (1999-10-01). The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0618001824.
  8. Goodwin, Lorine Swainston (2006-07-05). The Pure Food, Drink, and Drug Crusaders, 1879-1914. McFarland. ISBN 9780786427420.
  9. Flower, Benjamin Orange; Ridpath, John Clark; Tyner, Paul; McLean, John Emery; Fanning, Neuville O.; Patterson, Charles Brodie (1897-01-01). The Arena. Arena Publishing Company.

Further reading

  • Emerson, Benjamin K. The Ipswich Emersons (1900)
  • Houde, Mary Jean. Reaching Out: A Story of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (1989)
  • Swanson, Cynthia N. Brown, Charlotte Emerson American National Biography (2000) online
  • Wells, Mildred White. Unity in Diversity: The History of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (1953).
  • Wood, Mrs Mary I. Stevens. The History of the General Federation of Women's Clubs: For the first twenty-two years of its organization (History department, General federation of women's clubs, 1912). online

External links

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