A Group of Famous Women: stories of their livesHorton, Edith
History
A Group of Famous Women: stories of their lives
Horton, Edith
Women -- Biography
At the close of her address the Governor of the State arose and said,
"Mrs. Livermore has told us of the soldiers' needs and of our duties!
It is now our turn to speak, and we must speak in dollars and gifts!"
The enthusiasm was great; eight thousand dollars was soon pledged and
other donations were made. It was decided to hold a Sanitary Fair in
Dubuque, and Mrs. Livermore was engaged to speak in different towns
throughout the State to interest the people in it. When the fair was
held, sixty thousand dollars was cleared. After that, Mary Livermore
was never again afraid to speak before a large audience. By her
lectures she raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the hospital
work.
At the close of the war, people were so anxious to hear Mrs. Livermore
that she became a regular public lecturer, traveling from place to
place and lecturing always before crowded houses. Her eloquence has
been equaled by few modern speakers, and undoubtedly she was the
foremost of women orators.
Before the war, Mrs. Livermore had been opposed to woman suffrage,
but life in the army caused her to change her views on that question.
She saw that, under existing political and social conditions, women
could never hope to complete reforms until they possessed the right
to vote. She was also devoted to the cause of temperance, serving for
ten years as President of the Women's Christian Temperance Union of
Massachusetts. All this while she was writing articles for magazines,
and at the age of seventy-five Mrs. Livermore produced a book of seven
hundred pages, entitled _The Story of My Life_.
A bust of Mrs. Livermore, made by the sculptor, Annie Whitney, was
presented to the Shurtleff School in Boston by the Alumnae Association
of that institution. It stands opposite that of Lucy Stone, which was
the first bust of a woman ever accepted by the city of Boston for its
schools.
Mrs. Livermore continued in public work, while living at her beautiful
home in Melrose, Massachusetts, until May 23, 1905, when she passed
away at the age of eighty-four.
[Illustration: CLARA BARTON]
CLARA BARTON
(1821-1912)
"She was on the firing line for humanity all her life."
The Red Cross Society, whose object is to relieve the sufferings caused
by war, is well known the world over, and the name of Clara Barton must
ever be associated with it.
This Society was founded in Europe in 1864, but did not make its way to
America until 1881, when Clara Barton succeeded in establishing it.
Born in the town of North Oxford, Massachusetts, on Christmas Day,
1821, Clara Barton began life under most favorable circumstances.
The family was well-to-do and Clara, being the youngest, received much
attention from all. Her father, who had fought under Mad Anthony Wayne
against the Indians of the West, used to tell her stories of army
life—knowledge which she afterward turned to good account.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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