Alice Ames Winter (November 25, 1865 – April 5, 1944) was an American

litterateur An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or as ...

, author and clubwoman. She served as president of 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 ...

(GFWC).

Early years and education

Alice Vivian Ames was born in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

, November 25, 1865. Her parents were Rev. Charles Gordon and Fanny Baker Ames, philanthropist and women's rights activist. She had three siblings, including a sister, Edith Theodora Ames; a brother, Theodore, who died in infancy; and a half brother, Charles Wilberforce Ames. Her ancestors included Francis and John Cooke, and Richard Warren who arrived in the United States in 1620 on the ''Mayflower''. Winter was a student at the Pennsylvania Academy Fine Arts. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1886 with a B.A. degree, and in 1889 with an M.A. degree.

Career

During the period of 1890 to 1892, Winter worked as a teacher, and in the 1890s, she served as president of the Minneapolis Kindergarten Association. She was one of the founders and was the first president (1907-15) of the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Woman's Club. During

World War I 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 ...

, she was chairman of the

Council of National Defense The Council of National Defense was a United States organization formed during World War I to coordinate resources and industry in support of the war effort, including the coordination of transportation, industrial and farm production, financial s ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Woman's Committee and the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety Women's Auxiliary. She also served as director of the Minnesota Child Labor Commission, and of the Minneapolis chapter of the American Red Cross. Winters used the connections that she made on these committees to further the cause of

woman 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 ...

. After the war, she continued her organizational activities as vice-president (1918-20) and president (1920-24) of the GFWC. In 1920, she was affiliated with the establishment of the Women's Joint Congressional Committee. In 1928, she served as director of the Home Women's Bureau and the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. Political action committee, political committee that assists the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republi ...

. Winter was a member of Clio, the Minnesota Playground Association, League of American Pen Women, New Century, Shakespeare Club, and the Woman's Friday Morning Club. Her works included ''Prize to the Hardy'', Bobbs-Merrill, 1905; ''Jewell Weed'', 1907; and ''Charles Ames, a Biography'', Houghton. Mifflin, 1913.

Personal life

On June 25, 1892, she married Thomas Gerald Winter, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. They had a son, Charles Gilbert, and a daughter, Edith Winter Ames. In religion, Winter was a Unitarian. She died April 5, 1944. Her papers are held at the

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, an ...

Selected works

* ''How shall we judge a motion picture?'', 19?? * ''The Prize to the Hardy ... With drawings by R.M. Crosby. novel.'', 1905 * ''Jewel Weed ... With illustrations by Harrison Fisher.'', 1906 * ''Women's Clubs To-day'', 1921 * ''To American women : a plea'', 1922 * ''The business of being a club woman'', 1925 * ''The little woman who made a great war'', 1927 * ''The Heritage of Women.'', 1928 * ''What do we want of a president?.'', 1928 * ''Hopeful tides in American politics'', 1928 * ''A woman's reason in politics'', 1928 * ''Better pictures in your home town : suggestions to local better films committees'', 1932 * ''Motion picture study program : in four numbers'', 1936

References

Citations

Attribution

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Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Alice Ames 1865 births 1944 deaths Clubwomen American suffragists People from Albany, New York 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers Wellesley College alumni Republican National Committee members American Red Cross personnel