Aurelia Isabel Henry Reinhardt (April 1, 1877 – January 28, 1948) was an American educator, activist, and prominent member and leader of numerous organizations. She completed her undergraduate studies at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, her doctoral dissertation at
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
, and studied as a
fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. After teaching at the
University of Idaho
The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...
, the
Lewiston State Normal School, and with the Extension Division of the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
, Reinhardt was elected president of
Mills College
Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...
in 1916, and held the position until 1943, making her the longest serving president in the history of the school.
Reinhardt was a
peace activist
A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...
during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, an active member of the
Republican Party, and supported the ratification of the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
as well as the formation of the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
. She wrote and spoke extensively throughout the US and Europe, to a range of social, political and business groups, on topics including the
education of women
Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girl ...
,
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
,
world peace
World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...
, and
international cooperation
In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal.
Definitions
Multilateralism, in the form of membership in international institutions, serves to bind powerful nations, discourage u ...
. Reinhardt was president of the
American Association of University Women
The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...
, and a prominent member of the
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
, serving for two years as its first female moderator. As the only female member of the Unitarian Commission of Appraisal, she delivered the
Ware Lecture in 1932, and was briefly a minister in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
. She was a director of the
Starr King School for the Ministry
Starr King School for the Ministry is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Oakland, California. The seminary was formed in 1904 to educate leaders for the growing number of progressive religious communities in the western part of the US. The scho ...
, and was a delegate at the
inaugural meeting of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
in 1945.
Aurelia Henry Reinhardt was married to George F. Reinhardt in 1909. They had two sons, who she raised after his unexpected death in 1914. Following her retirement in 1943, she traveled internationally before returning to California, where she died on January 28, 1948, due to heart problems. A lifelong advocate for the marginalized and dispossessed, she was the recipient of
honorary degrees
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
from a number of educational institutions, and has been commemorated through the establishment of a society, fellowship, a university building, and a professorship bearing her name. She was named nationally as "one of the ten outstanding women of 1940," and honored as the California State Mother in 1946.
Early life
Aurelia Isabel Henry was born on April 1, 1877, in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. The second of six children, she was the daughter of Mary and William Warner Henry, a wholesale grocer, land owner, and businessman.
She spent part of her childhood in
San Jacinto and
Escondido, California. After graduating from Boys High School in San Francisco in 1888, she studied at the University of California, Berkeley, completing a bachelor's degree with a major in English literature in 1898.
While attending the University of California she, along with her sisters, worked with their mother who ran a boardinghouse in Berkeley.
Henry then taught
elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...
and
physical culture
Physical culture, also known as Body culture, is a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany, the UK and the US.
Origins
The physical culture movement in the United States during the 19th century ...
at the University of Idaho from 1898 to 1901.
She completed a Ph.D. in literature at Yale in 1905 with a doctoral dissertation on ''
Epicoene, or the Silent Woman'' by
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...
. She taught at Lewiston State Normal School in Idaho beginning in 1903, taking one year off to revise her dissertation for publication, and eventually becoming the head of the English Department. She traveled abroad as a recipient of an Association of Collegiate Alumnae Fellowship, studied as a fellow at the University of Oxford, traveled Italy, and published an English language translation of ''
De Monarchia
''Monarchia'', often called ''De Monarchia'' (, ; "(On) Monarchy"), is a Latin treatise on secular and religious power by Dante Alighieri, who wrote it between 1312 and 1313. With this text, the poet intervened in one of the most controversial s ...
'' by
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
.
She then returned to teaching in Idaho for another three years.
By 1908 her brother Paul had fallen ill, and she left her teaching position to care for him in Arizona, until his death in 1909.
While there, she met and began a relationship with Paul's doctor, George F. Reinhardt, professor of hygiene, founder and director of the student health service at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, and member of the California Board of Medical Examiners.
The two were wed in 1909, in a ceremony at the
Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley (UUCB) was founded as the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley in Berkeley, California in 1891 and moved to Kensington, California in 1961. It is one of the oldest and largest Unitarian Universalist chur ...
. He later died unexpectedly in 1914, following an "operation for a minor affliction" and four days of illness. They had two sons, who Aurelia Henry Reinhardt cared for alone following her husband's death.
Career
In 1914 Reinhardt became a lecturer in English in the Extension Division of the University of California. She was a member of the Town and Gown Club of Berkeley, Prytancan and English Club of the University of California,
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
, the
Dante Society of America
The Dante Society of America is an American academic society devoted to the study of Dante Alighieri. the oldest scholarly societies in North America, the DSA predates both the Modern Language Association, founded in 1883, and the American Historic ...
, and Concordance Society of America.
After two years of teaching she was appointed president of the then-struggling
Mills College
Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...
in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, at that time the only women's college on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
and the second oldest women's college in the country. Reinhardt succeeded acting president
Hettie Belle Ege, who remained on the Mills faculty until 1930. Arriving with her two young children, Reinhardt is said to have remarked that she was "the first college president who arrived on campus pushing a
perambulator".
There she served from 1916 to 1943, through a period of substantial growth, making her the longest serving president in the institution's history.
During her tenure Mills constructed 17 additional buildings (growing from 11 to 28 total), increased enrollment three-fold in 15 years, and "gained national, even worldwide favor", including admission to the
Association of American Colleges and Universities
The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) is a global membership organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. It works to improve quality and equity in undergraduate education and advance liberal education. ...
in 1917.
Reinhardt was active in local, national, and international organizations, lecturing and writing on topics including international cooperation, suffrage, and women's rights.
[ In 1919 she served the Oakland ]Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
as chair of the City Planning Committee, and she was regularly invited to speak at a range of organizations, such as the Retail Furniture Association of California, the Western Fruit Jobbers Association, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and the Advertising Club of Los Angeles.
Starting in the First World War, Reinhardt worked as an advocate for world peace. She supported Democratic President Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
's proposal to create the League of Nations, despite herself being active in the Republican Party. In 1919 she traveled as a delegate to Tokyo for the meeting of the Institute of Pacific Relations
The Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR) was an international NGO established in 1925 to provide a forum for discussion of problems and relations between nations of the Pacific Rim. The International Secretariat, the center of most IPR activity ov ...
, and in 1920 to Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, to deliver a petition of 30,000 signatures from Californians urging the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles to end the war. In total, she was a member of more than a dozen peace organizations over the course of her career.
In 1922 Reinhardt traveled again to Oxford and then to France as a representative of the American Association of University Women
The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...
. She served as vice president, and then in 1923, president of the Association, a position she held until 1927, helping to strengthen that organization significantly. In 1928 she was a Republican elector
Elector may refer to:
* Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors
* Elector, a member of an electoral college
** Confederate elector, a member of ...
from California, and opponent of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
. She continued her work with the Association of University Women into the 1930s, as chair of their Committee on International Relations from 1927 to 1933, also held the chair for the General Federation of Women's Clubs
The General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC), founded in 1890 during the Progressive Movement, is a federation of over 3,000 women's clubs in the United States which promote civic improvements through volunteer service. Many of its activities ...
in their Department of Education from 1928 to 1930. Then, during the 1936 presidential election, traveled as a delegate to the Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
. In 1929 she again traveled to Japan in the interest of the Institute of Pacific Relations, this time meeting in Kyoto.
Reinhardt was a devoted and active Unitarian throughout her life. In the 1940s she served as the first female moderator of the American Unitarian Association from 1940 to 1942, which according to contemporary news reports was the first time a large church in the nation had been represented by a woman. Reinhardt served briefly as a minister at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland
The First Unitarian Church of Oakland is located in western Downtown Oakland, California. It is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
History
The building site was purchased in November 1888 from Jane K. Sather, a patron of the U ...
and delivered the Ware Lecture at the May 1932 meeting of the American Unitarian Association. She also served for a decade on the board of directors at the Starr King School for the Ministry
Starr King School for the Ministry is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Oakland, California. The seminary was formed in 1904 to educate leaders for the growing number of progressive religious communities in the western part of the US. The scho ...
. Reinhardt was the only woman member of the Unitarian Commission of Appraisal, commissioned to "study the church and find new directions for its re invigoration".
In 1945 Reinhardt was a delegate to the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, and spoke to numerous groups throughout the country, advocating for the value of organizations such as UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
.
Throughout her life, Reinhardt "invariably took the side of those individuals who had no resources, who lacked adequate support, or who had in some other way been marginalized by society." She has also been described as an "avid nature lover", and advocated variously for environmental preservation efforts, and against unchecked and reckless development.
Later life and death
Following her retirement as president of Mills College in 1943, Reinhardt traveled in Latin America, Europe, and finally Russia before returning to California. She died on January 28, 1948, in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...
, from heart problems. Her ashes are interred at the Columbarium
A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased.
The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "'' colu ...
in Oakland. Her eldest son, G. Frederick Reinhardt
George Frederick Reinhardt (1911–1971) was an American foreign service officer and diplomat from 1937 until 1968. He was considered by his peers to be among the finest diplomats of his era. Reinhardt was the U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam ...
, was a diplomat. His brother Paul Henry Reinhardt, an ophthalmologist in Palo Alto, served with the U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
in the Pacific Theater
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
of the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and later taught ophthalmology at Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
.
Recognition and commemoration
Reinhardt was the recipient of multiple honorary degrees, including from:
* The University of California (1919)
* The University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
(1924)
* Colorado College
Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...
(1931)
* Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
(1937)
* Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States.
...
(1937)
* Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
(1937)
Mills College hosts the namesake Aurelia Henry Reinhardt Society, which recognizes those who financially support the college through a bequest
A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably.
The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...
or other charitable gift, as well as the Aurelia Henry Reinhardt Faculty Purse, awarded to seniors to support post-graduate study. The school's campus also includes the Aurelia Henry Reinhardt Alumnae House, designed by architect Clarence W. W. Mayhew and built in 1949.
The Aurelia Henry Reinhardt Fellowship was established in 1940 with fundraising from the South Pacific section of the American Association of University Women and is offered annually to distinguished women scholars. In 1981 the Starr King School for the Ministry introduced the Aurelia Henry Reinhardt Professorship, in order to "ensure a feminist perspective on the faculty".
The archives at Mills College hosts the Reinhardt Collection, a compilation of texts related to "women, with a strength in women’s suffrage, birth control, and social issues", and the school also includes the student run Aurelia Reinhardt Historical Society, established to "inspire an appreciation of the history of the Mills community".
Reinhardt was named "one of the ten outstanding women of 1940" by the publication ''American Women''. She was also selected as the California State Mother in 1946, by the American Mothers Committee of the Golden Rule Foundation.
In 2019, the Redwood Regional Park in the San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
was renamed Dr. Aurelia Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in honor of her efforts in helping to establish the East Bay Regional Park District
The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which ...
.
Selected publications
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
See also
* Aurelia Harwood
Aurelia Squire Harwood (September 1865 – June 1928), daughter of the wealthy Harwood family of Ontario, California, was a conservationist, educator, and first female President of the Sierra Club in 1927 and 1928. In addition to her terms as Pre ...
(1865–1928), Reinhardt's first cousin and the first female president of the Sierra Club[Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. XIV, No. 1, February 1929]
* List of Mills College honorary degree recipients
List of Mills College, Oakland, California, U.S.A., honorary degree recipients:
* 2011 – Janet L. Holmgren
* 2011 – May Ohmura Watanabe
* 2010 – Dolores Huerta
* 2010 – Nancy Pelosi
* 2010 – Betty Wo
* 2009 – Stephanie Mills
* 20 ...
* List of presidents of Mills College
* List of women's firsts
* List of women's rights activists
This article is a list of notable women's rights activists, arranged alphabetically by modern country names and by the names of the persons listed.
Afghanistan
* Amina Azimi – disabled women's rights advocate
* Hasina Jalal – women's empowerm ...
* Women's education in the United States
In the early colonial history of the United States, higher education was designed for men only. Since the 1800s, women's positions and opportunities in the educational sphere have increased. Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, women have surpass ...
* Mary Emma Woolley
Mary Emma Woolley (July 13, 1863 – September 5, 1947) was an American educator, peace activist and women's suffrage supporter. She was the first female student to attend Brown University and served as the 11th President of Mount Holyoke Colle ...
(1863–1947), president of Mount Holyoke College, who succeeded Reinhardt as president of the American Association of University Women
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinhardt, Aurelia Henry
1877 births
1948 deaths
American social activists
Activists from California
Presidents of Mills College
Yale University alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Writers from San Francisco
People from Escondido, California
People from San Jacinto, California
American women's rights activists
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Unitarians
Educators from California
20th-century American educators
American Unitarians
American translators
20th-century translators
American school administrators
American political activists
California Republicans
Presidents of the American Association of University Women
Fellows of the American Association of University Women
Religious leaders from California
Translators of Dante Alighieri
Women heads of universities and colleges
20th-century American women educators