Caroline Lexow Babcock (February 5, 1882 – March 8, 1980) was an American pacifist and suffragist, co-founder of the

Women's Peace Union Women's Peace Union (WPU) was a radical Pacifism, pacifist organization founded in 1921 as a joint effort of women from the United States and Canada with the goal of outlawing war. Its single purpose was to push through a Constitutional Amendment to ...

, and Executive Secretary of the

National Women's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NW ...

from 1938 to 1946.

Early life and education

Caroline Lexow was born in 1882 in

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a Village (New York), village located primarily in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retai ...

, the daughter of lawyer and legislator

Clarence Lexow Clarence Lexow (September 16, 1852 – December 31, 1910) was an American politician and member of the New York Senate from 1894 to 1898. Biography He was born on September 16, 1852, in Brooklyn, New York (state). His father was Rudolph Lexo ...

, noted for the anti-corruption

Lexow Committee Lexow Committee (1894 to 1895) was a major New York State Senate probe into police corruption in New York City. The Lexow Committee inquiry, which took its name from the committee's chairman, State Senator Clarence Lexow, was the widest-ranging ...

probe, and the former Katherine Morton. Caroline's grandfather

Rudolph Lexow Rudolph Lexow (January 10, 1823 Tönning, Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark – July 16, 1909 New York City) was an American writer and editor. Biography Lexow graduated from the University of Kiel and was active in the Revolutions of 1848 in German ...

was a prominent German-American writer and editor. Caroline Lexow attended

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, graduating in 1904.

Career and activism

After college Caroline Lexow became active full-time in the suffrage movement, as executive secretary assisting

Harriot Stanton Blatch Harriot Eaton Blatch ( Stanton; January 20, 1856–November 20, 1940) was an American writer and suffragist. She was the daughter of pioneering women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Biography Harriot Eaton Stanton was born, the sixth ...

in running the Women's Political Union, as president of the

College Equal Suffrage League The College Equal Suffrage League (CESL) was an American woman suffrage organization founded in 1900 by Maud Wood Park and Inez Haynes Irwin (''nee'' Gillmore), as a way to attract younger Americans to the women's rights movement. The League spurred ...

of New York, and as executive secretary of the National College Equal Suffrage League. "On the day of my graduation," she told audiences while touring as a suffrage organizer in 1909, "I became actively interested in suffrage work and a member of the League, and I expect to devote the most of my time to the cause until it wins." In 1921, Babcock was one of the members of the Women's Peace Society who left to start the

. In that same year, she chaired a women's peace march in New York City. Babcock and Elinor Byrns drafted a constitutional amendment calling for the power to declare or prepare for war to be removed from the powers of the U. S. Congress. She included the Boy Scouts among her targets, calling scouting a "kindergarten for war." Caroline Lexow Babcock was on the Executive Committee and board of directors of the

Birth Control Federation of America The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides Reproductive health, reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation ...

Personal life and legacy

Caroline Lexow married Philip Westerly Babcock in 1915. They had three children together, Caroline, Philip, and Katharine. Caroline Lexow Babcock died in 1980, still wearing a button supporting the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...

. Caroline L. Babcock's papers are archived with those of Olive E. Hurlburt in the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard University. Another significant set of Babcock's letters are in the Harriot Stanton Blatch Collection at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

. A Caroline Lexow Babcock Award has been given out by the

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of th ...

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

References

External links

*Isabelle Keating Savell, ''Ladies' Lib: How Rockland Women Got the Vote'' (Historical Society of Rockland County 1979).
Records of the Women's Peace Union
New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts. {{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, Caroline Lexow American suffragists American pacifists 1882 births 1980 deaths People from Rockland County, New York Barnard College alumni Activists from New York (state) College Equal Suffrage League