Gertrude Foster Brown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gertrude Foster Brown
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| Born |
Gertrude Foster
July 29, 1867 |
| Died | March 1, 1956 (aged 88) |
| Spouse(s) | Arthur Raymond Brown |
| Parent(s) | William Charles Foster, Lydia Anne Drake |
Gertrude Foster Brown (born July 29, 1867 – died March 1, 1956) was a talented concert pianist and teacher. She was also a very important suffragist. Suffragists were people who worked hard to get women the right to vote.
After women in New York State won the right to vote in 1917, Gertrude wrote a book. It was called Your Vote and How to Use It. This book helped women learn how to use their new voting power. In 1918, she also led the Women's Overseas Hospitals in France. These hospitals were started by suffragists. Gertrude helped create the National League of Women Voters. This group still helps people vote and understand politics today. She also managed Woman's Journal for many years.
Contents
Early Life and Music Studies
Gertrude Foster was born on July 29, 1867. Her hometown was Morrison, Illinois. Her parents were William Charles Foster and Lydia Anne Drake.
Gertrude loved music from a young age. She studied piano at the New England Conservatory of Music. This famous music school is in Boston, Massachusetts. She finished a four-year course in just two years. She graduated in August 1885.
After teaching for a year in Dayton, Ohio, she went to Europe. She studied with famous piano teachers there. She learned from Xaver Scharwenka in Berlin. She also studied with Élie-Miriam Delaborde in Paris. This was between 1886 and 1889.
Piano Performances
On January 25, 1889, Gertrude played her first professional concert. She performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlin. This was a big achievement for a young pianist.
By July 1889, she came back to the United States. She joined the Chicago Conservatory of Music. There, she taught music and performed concerts. She stayed there until 1896.
In August 1893, Gertrude Foster married Arthur Raymond Brown. He was an artist and worked in advertising. In 1896, they moved to New York City. Gertrude Foster Brown kept playing piano. She also gave special concerts where she talked about Richard Wagner and his operas.
Fighting for Women's Right to Vote
Gertrude Foster Brown started a Woman Suffrage Study Club in New York in 1909. This club later joined Carrie Chapman Catt's Woman Suffrage Party. She attended a big meeting for women's suffrage in 1910.
In 1913, she became president of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association. She helped organize large parades in New York City. These parades helped show how many people supported women's right to vote.
Gertrude worked hard to help women vote in New York. On November 6, 1917, women in New York won the right to vote! This was a very important step. It helped lead to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This amendment gave all women in the U.S. the right to vote.
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After New York women could vote, Gertrude wrote her book. It was called Your Vote and How to Use It. It was published in February 1918. The New York State Women Suffrage Party supported her book. In it, she told New York women to be good citizens. She encouraged them to use their new voting power wisely. She wanted them to vote for what was best for everyone.
Her book was one of many guides for new women voters. It helped women understand their new rights. It also taught them about their responsibilities. Parts of her book were even used in a course for women voters. The book was also suggested reading for Girl Guides in 1920. It helped them earn a Citizen's Badge.
In 1918, Gertrude Foster Brown became Director-General of the Women's Overseas Hospitals in France. These hospitals were set up by the suffrage movement. Seventy-four women staff members went from the U.S. to work there.
Gertrude also helped start the National League of Women Voters. She led the group that planned how it would work. People praised her efforts for making the group strong and effective.
She was also involved with the New York Woman's City Club. From 1921 to 1931, Gertrude managed The Woman's Journal. This magazine was later called The Woman Citizen. It was first started in 1870 by Lucy Stone and Henry B. Blackwell. The magazine stopped publishing in 1931 because of the Great Depression.
Later Life and Global Work
In the 1930s, Gertrude and her husband traveled in Europe and North Africa. Gertrude Foster Brown became a strong supporter of the League of Nations. This was an organization that worked for world peace.
During World War II, she was active in a group called the Women's Action Committee for Victory and Lasting Peace. In 1945, she represented this group. She attended the meeting that created the United Nations. This important meeting was in San Francisco, California.
Gertrude wrote about her life in a book. It was called Suffrage and Music: My First Eighty Years.
Gertrude and Raymond Brown did not have children. Raymond Brown passed away on April 30, 1944. Gertrude continued to live in their apartment. She even started a music group that played there. Gertrude died on March 1, 1956, in Westport, Connecticut.
