Gertrude Weil facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gertrude Weil
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Gertrude Weil circa 1896
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| Born | December 11, 1879 Goldsboro, North Carolina, US
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| Died | May 3, 1971 (aged 91) Goldsboro, North Carolina, US
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| Resting place | Willow Dale Cemetery, Goldsboro, North Carolina |
| Education | Smith College, 1901 |
| Occupation | Social Activist |
Gertrude Weil (born December 11, 1879 – died May 3, 1971) was an American social activist. She worked on many important causes. These included women getting the right to vote, improving working conditions for people, and fighting for equal rights for everyone.
Contents
About Gertrude Weil
Her Early Life
Gertrude Weil was born on December 11, 1879. Her parents, Henry and Mina Weil, were German Jews living in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Her father, Henry, came from Hamburg, Germany, when he was 14 years old. He followed his brother, Herman, who fought in the American Civil War.
Gertrude grew up in Goldsboro in a large home at 200 Chestnut Street. This house is now a historic landmark. Her family was wealthy and had staff, both white and Black, who helped around the house. In 1883, Gertrude's family helped start Goldsboro's first Jewish place of worship, called Congregation Oheb Sholom.
Her Education
School in Goldsboro
Gertrude went to public schools in Goldsboro. Her parents also made sure she learned about her Jewish faith and German language. She went to Sabbath School, German School, and Hebrew School.
Horace Mann School (1895–1897)
When Gertrude was 16, she went to the Horace Mann School in New York City. She wrote letters home to her family, sharing her experiences. At this school, she met Margaret Stanton Lawrence, who was her physical education teacher. Margaret was the daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a famous leader for women's rights. Margaret inspired Gertrude, who once said, "Oh! You'll see me come home a thorough reformer." Even though Gertrude was active, she had a curved spine, which was found out during her time at Horace Mann.
Smith College (1897–1901)
After Horace Mann, Gertrude went to Smith College, a women's university in Massachusetts. In her first year, she lived with Mary Louise Cable, whose brother, George Washington Cable, wrote against slavery and racism. At Smith College, Gertrude learned about people like Jane Addams, who worked to improve society. She also attended talks about women's roles in making social changes. These experiences helped shape her future work.
In 1899, Gertrude's mother, Mina, started the Goldsboro Women's Club. She dedicated it to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a feminist writer she had heard speak. Mina wrote to Gertrude about Gilman's ideas of the "New Woman." The Goldsboro Women's Club worked to help their community and discussed how women could take on more social work and reform. Mina's involvement greatly influenced Gertrude.
In the 1900 election, women could not vote in the United States. However, some women at Smith College, including Gertrude, took part in a practice election. This experience introduced Gertrude to politics. It also influenced her later work for women's right to vote.
In April 1901, Gertrude visited settlement houses in New York. These were places that helped poor people and immigrants. She also visited areas where Italian and Chinese immigrants lived.
In 1901, Gertrude Weil became the first person from North Carolina to graduate from Smith College.
After College
After graduating, Gertrude had to decide whether to become a teacher or return home. She thought about moving to New York to work in the schools she had visited. She also wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. Her mother, Mina, suggested she learn a skill like book design. After being away for six years, and with her family wanting her home, Gertrude returned to Goldsboro.
Social Activism and "Federation Gertie"
Early Work: 1901–1905
Back in Goldsboro, Gertrude enjoyed her free time but also looked for ways to help her growing town. She helped her mother with household tasks. She also became more involved in the Goldsboro Women's Club, which her mother had started. There, she taught sewing classes to women who didn't have much money.
Using her local experience, Gertrude joined the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs. Sally Southall Cotten founded this group in 1902. Through her work with this Federation, Gertrude gained experience in social activism. People even started calling her "Federation Gertie."
Gertrude also studied at Cornell University during several summers. She learned about history, government, Shakespeare, and politics.
When they first started, women's clubs in North Carolina focused on community problems. They were not directly political. These groups worked on laws that would help women and children. They later realized they needed to be more involved in government.
Women's Right to Vote
In 1911, Gertrude joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association. This group wanted a national law to let women vote. Gertrude often talked with Carrie Chapman Catt, who later became the group's president. Catt kept Gertrude updated on their work. Gertrude also collected newspaper clippings about the association.
In the early 1900s, many women did not support women's right to vote. Even Gertrude's college friends and other women in North Carolina did not widely support the movement.
Despite the Goldsboro Women's Club and the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs not focusing on politics, Gertrude remained interested in women's right to vote. This interest began when she took part in the practice presidential election in 1900 at college.
In 1914, Gertrude helped start the Goldsboro Equal Suffrage Association and became its first president. In the same year, she was chosen as the first Vice-President of the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs. She was also nominated to be their President. However, Gertrude turned down the Federation's nomination. She wanted to focus all her efforts on helping women get the right to vote.
Between 1919 and 1920, women's suffrage groups in the United States worked hard for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This amendment would give women the right to vote. Gertrude continued her work, gathering signatures and support. When the Nineteenth Amendment passed in 1920, Gertrude was president of the North Carolina Equal Suffrage League. This amendment meant that states and the federal government could not stop people from voting because of their sex.
Even with all the hard work by Gertrude and the women's clubs in North Carolina, the state legislature refused to approve the amendment. Instead, Tennessee cast the final vote to give women the right to vote in the United States. Gertrude wrote about North Carolina's refusal: "As you know, our fight for ratification by the North Carolina legislature is over. We were unsuccessful in our efforts. Our North Carolina men have refused to ratify.” She then asked the women to “hold together whatever local organization you have. We shall need it to carry out the work that lies before us.”
Gertrude continued to work to improve the political system. In 1920, she started the North Carolina League of Women Voters. This group taught women about politics and their new voting rights. She also became a leader in the Legislative Council of North Carolina. This group worked to pass new social reforms. In 1922, she made news when she destroyed marked ballots. These ballots were meant to be put into ballot boxes to unfairly change an election.
North Carolina finally approved the Nineteenth Amendment in 1971. This was just 24 days before Gertrude Weil passed away.
Her Work in Politics
Gertrude continued to work to improve women's standing in the United States. In 1920, she became president of the North Carolina League of Women Voters. This group focused on teaching women about their right to vote. It also encouraged them to take part in public affairs.
Gertrude also played a big role in the new Legislative Council of North Carolina Women. She presented a plan to the North Carolina General Assembly. Her plan asked for money for mothers' pensions, rules for movies, and funding for schools that helped young people learn skills.
Gertrude faced challenges in her fight for secret ballots and private voting rooms. In 1922, she went to vote and found her ballot already marked. She tore up that ballot and others that were also marked. This event led the editor of the Raleigh Times to suggest Gertrude as a possible candidate for the United States Congress. Gertrude, in a letter on July 29, 1922, said this was not true: "It has seemed needless to deny the truth of the groundless rumor concerning my running for Congress from the Third District on the Republican ticket. However, since the rumor persists in recurring in the columns of the press, perhaps it is well that I state definitely that I am not considering—nor have I ever considered—running for Congress on the Republican, Democratic, Farm-Labor, Socialist, Independent, or any other ticket."
Throughout the 1920s, Gertrude kept encouraging women to vote. She visited communities, gave speeches, and gave money to the clubs she was part of.
Her Social Work
During the time leading up to the Great Depression, Gertrude was president of the Goldsboro Bureau of Social Service. She also led its Decisions Committee. She helped with New Deal relief efforts when she was made a Director of Federal Public Relief Work.
Her work as a social worker in North Carolina's poor communities made Gertrude support the idea of social welfare programs.
Gertrude also spent a lot of time fighting for better working conditions in North Carolina. In 1930, she was a main leader in a group of citizens who supported workers' rights to organize and speak freely. Almost a third of the 439 people who signed their statement were women. In 1931, the women's Legislative Council finally won shorter work hours for women. They also got laws against night work and other factory improvements.
Her Civil Rights Work
Gertrude grew up in the South after the Civil War. Her hometown of Goldsboro, North Carolina, had been the site of a Civil War battle. This was because it was near an important railroad.
Throughout the 1920s, Gertrude gave money to support African Americans in education. She also supported efforts where Black and white people worked together.
Gertrude first became deeply involved in civil rights work in 1930.
Her dedication to fairness led her to Atlanta in 1930. She attended the Anti-Lynching Conference for Southern White Women. This conference led to the creation of the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, which Gertrude also joined. Gertrude and others in these groups challenged the false idea that white Southern women needed to be protected from Black men through violent acts like lynchings.
In 1932, the Governor of North Carolina asked Gertrude to join the North Carolina Commission on Interracial Cooperation. This group worked to improve relations between different races. Gertrude served on this commission and its later versions for 25 years. In this role, she worked to improve legal, economic, political, and educational equality for Black Americans.
For the next 30 years, Gertrude continued her civil rights work. In 1963, she organized the Bi-Racial Council in her home. She was against segregation, which meant keeping people of different races separate. She even donated money for a swimming pool for local African Americans after their local pool was closed to them. On March 14, 1965, Gertrude described segregation as "separate but by no means equal." This showed her long commitment to civil rights.
Her Religion
Gertrude's Jewish faith and traditions from her childhood influenced her social activism later in life. She taught Sunday School, led adult Bible studies, and worked with the Temple Sisterhood. Her travels connected her with other Jewish women who shared her progressive views. One friend was her cousin, Rosa Kaufman, who was influenced by Pauline Steinem. Pauline's granddaughter, Gloria, later became a famous feminist leader.
Influenced by her mother, Gertrude joined the Daughters of Zion in 1912. The founder of Daughters of Zion, Henrietta Szold, was an American Zionist and a friend of Gertrude's mother. Szold's social work resonated with Gertrude's desire for social progress. The Daughters of Zion later changed their name to Hadassah: The Women's Zionist Organization of America. Gertrude served as president of her local and regional groups for this organization.
Gertrude's aunt, Sarah Weil, helped start the North Carolina Association of Jewish Women in 1921. Gertrude served three terms as president of this Association, starting in 1924. She remained a board member for the rest of her life. Sarah Weil wanted to unite Jewish women in North Carolina, no matter their background. She welcomed both traditional and reform members. Gertrude's work with this group took her to small towns across North Carolina, where she built relationships with women. After women gained the right to vote, the women in the North Carolina Association of Jewish Women asked for equal membership in their places of worship. This was granted in Greensboro in 1923 and in Goldsboro in 1924.
Gertrude also served on the board of the North Carolina Home for the Jewish Aged. She worked for the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods and helped raise money for many Jewish charities. In the 1930s and 1940s, she and her mother worked hard to help Jewish refugees escape danger in Europe.
In the late 1960s, Gertrude wrote an essay. She criticized those who thought religious people should only focus on "matters of religion." She believed that "In my definition, religion includes the whole of life: one's beliefs, one's attitudes to society, one's behavior." In the same essay, Gertrude said that Judaism called for good behavior in all parts of a person's life. She stated, "My religion demands the same honesty, fairness, reliability, in all one's relations." Gertrude's focus on moral and ethical behavior as part of her faith was clear throughout her life and social work.
Her Later Life
Gertrude continued her dedication to helping others. In 1968, she had already served ten years on the county library board and kept serving.
She also gave money to help her community. She donated thousands of dollars to the Herman Weil Memorial Fund and the Medical School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Her Legacy
In 1964, Gertrude received a medal from Smith College. This medal was given to distinguished alumni, and Gertrude was chosen for her public service work.
The public library in Goldsboro has the "Gertrude Weil Auditorium," named after her.
According to the Jewish Women's Archive, Gertrude Weil was: "Inspired by Jewish teachings that 'justice, mercy, [and] goodness were not to be held in a vacuum, but practiced in our daily lives,' Weil stood courageously at the forefront of a wide range of progressive and often controversial causes, including women's suffrage, labor reform and civil rights. She worked tirelessly to extend political, economic and social opportunities to those long denied them."
Her Death
Gertrude Weil passed away on May 3, 1971, in her hometown of Goldsboro, North Carolina. She was 91 years old. She is buried in the Jewish section of Willow Dale Cemetery in Goldsboro.
