Clara B. Spence (1859 -1923) was an American educator, women's and civil rights advocate, adoption pioneer and civic leader.

Background and career

Born in Albany, New York, in 1859 Spence came from a middle-class family. She got a good education and a degree from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in Oratory 1879. She studied

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

and came back to New York City to work as an actor in the

Madison Square Theatre ''The Madison Square Theatre'' was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, on the south side of 24th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway (which intersects Fifth Avenue near that point.) It was built in 1863, operated as a theater from 1865 to 1908, ...

. However, when her mother died in 1883, Spence changed her focus from acting to education. She founded the

Spence School , motto_translation = Not for school, but for life we learn , founder = Clara B. Spence , tuition = $60,880 (2022-2023) , chair = , head_label = , head ...

for girls in East 91st Street in New York City, where she served as Headmistress for 31 years. In 1892 this included a nursery for abandoned babies. She became known as an innovative educator and was on many boards in the city including the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, Barnard College, the Oratorio Society and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. One of the teachers she hired for the school was

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...

gave lectures as did Helen Keller, with

Anne Sullivan Anne Sullivan Macy (born as Johanna Mansfield Sullivan; April 14, 1866 – October 20, 1936) was an American teacher best known for being the instructor and lifelong companion of Helen Keller.Herrmann, Dorothy. ''Helen Keller: A Life'', Alfred ...

. One of the Alumni,

Ruth Draper Ruth Draper (December 2, 1884December 30, 1956) was an American actress, dramatist and noted diseuse who specialized in character-driven monologues and monodrama. Her best-known pieces include ''The Italian Lesson'', ''Three Women and Mr. Cliffo ...

, was a close friend and returned to give talks at the school. Other speakers included

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

and

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxley ...

Personal life

As an educated woman of her day it was not entirely uncommon for her not to marry. In the last two decades of the 19th century 50% of college educated women in the United States did not marry. In fact she found a like-minded woman with whom she shared the rest of her life. Together they adopted children, making them one of the first same sex adoption families. Her partner was Charlotte S. Baker and together they ran the school that Spence founded in 1892, The Spence School. In winter they lived with their children in an apartment at the school and in summer they moved to ''The Willows'' in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. The children were adopted through an adoption agency that Spence founded from the nursery that started the school, now called Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children. She pioneered the idea of bringing children from other countries, in this case Great Britain, to the United States for adoption. Her own children were adopted in 1909, 1911, 1914 and 1915. Each of the two women adopted 2 children, a boy and a girl each. This personal investment in adoption paved the way for the modern idea of the children being part of the family and not cheap labour to be used. The women were supporters of the

suffrage movement 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 ...

. Spence marched with

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 the Fifth Avenue march for equality in 1913. Spence died in the summer of 1923. Her funeral was on 22 November 1923.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Clara 1859 births 1923 deaths Activists from New York City Philanthropists from New York (state) American businesspeople Boston University alumni Alumni of the University of London Suffragists from New York (state) Educators from New York City American women educators