Cornelia Collins Hussey (, Collins; July 7, 1827 – October 13, 1902) was a 19th-century American philanthropist, suffragist, and writer. Her generous financial support had been indispensable to the
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
state association. Hussey died in 1902.
Early life
Cornelia Collins was born on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, at a point where the St. Nicholas Hotel now stands, July 7, 1827. Her father, Stacy Budd Collins, was born in
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Isaac Collins, having published the ''New Jersey Gazette''. She was a descendant of Stephen Grillet and stated:—
She was a member of the
Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
, to which sect her family have belonged for several generations. In early years, she was in sympathy with the
anti-slavery movement
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
, and before reaching her majority, became a manager of the
Colored Orphan Asylum
The Colored Orphan Asylum was an institution in New York City, open from 1836 to 1946. It housed on average four hundred children annually and was mostly managed by women. Its first location was on Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets in M ...
in her native city.
Career
On April 16, 1851, in New York, she married William H. Hussey, of
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...
. They have had three children, Dr. Mary H. Hussey (b. 1853), the devotee of woman suffrage, Frederick Hussey (b. 1856), and George Benjamin Hussey (b. 1863), a professor in the Western Maryland College.
In 1853, she became acquainted with Dr.
Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 182131 May 1910) was a British physician, notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council for the United Ki ...
, who had just settled in medical practice in New York. Dr. Blackwell became Hussey's medical adviser. In that year, and for the first time in the world's history, poor women could consult a regularly graduated physician of their own sex at the dispensary that Blackwell established. and some years afterwards, in cooperation with her and several other men and women, among whom was
Cyrus West Field
Cyrus West Field (November 30, 1819July 12, 1892) was an American businessman and financier who, along with other entrepreneurs, created the Atlantic Telegraph Company and laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858.
Early ...
, she formed a body of trustees for the New York Infirmary for Women and Children (now,
Lower Manhattan Hospital
NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital is a nonprofit, acute care, teaching hospital in New York City and is the only hospital in Lower Manhattan south of Greenwich Village. It is part of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System and one ...
). The purpose of that society was to give poor women medical treatment at the hands of other women. Also the Woman's Medical College was the outcome. From that hospital was developed in the course of time a medical college for women. Later, Hussey's only daughter studied her profession first in the college and then in the infirmary. In that hospital, she endowed a child's bed in the memory of her father.
The family moved to
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000.
Orange was original ...
. As her children grew up, Hussey took an active interest in the woman suffrage movement, and became a member of the executive committee of the
American Woman Suffrage Association
The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was a single-issue national organization formed in 1869 to work for women's suffrage in the United States. The AWSA lobbied state governments to enact laws granting or expanding women's right to vote ...
. Subsequently, on the request of
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...
, she was made vice-president for New Jersey of the
National Woman Suffrage Association
The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement spl ...
. She retained those positions during a number of years. In 1876, efforts were made in several large cities to permit the licensing of the social evil, and Hussey, always interested in efforts for social purity, was chosen secretary of the committee formed to oppose such legislation.
When that work had been brought to a successful termination, Hussey became interested in the claim of
Anna Ella Carroll
Anna Ella Carroll (August 29, 1815 – February 19, 1894) was an American political activist, pamphleteer and lobbyist. She wrote many pamphlets criticizing slavery. She played a significant role as an adviser to the Lincoln presidential cabine ...
for a government pension, on account of services rendered during the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. Hussey raised for Carroll who planned the Tennessee Campaign, that is said to have brought the war to a close. She afterwards aided in the support of Carroll. Through her efforts, considerable sums of money were raised by private subscription, and articles were published in some of the leading magazines on the work of Carroll. For at least two decades, Hussey contributed numerous articles to the ''
Woman's Journal
''Woman's Journal'' was an American women's rights periodical published from 1870 to 1931. It was founded in 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Browne Blackwell as a weekly newspaper. In 1917 it was purchased by ...
'' and various other reform periodicals, as well as to the papers of her State.
She was one of the fourteen original members of the Woman's Club of Orange, and a trustee of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. She was a life member of the New Jersey Legal Aid Association and contributed the money to start it. She was one of the managers of the Colored Orphan Asylum in New York with President Roosevelt's mother, when it was unpopular to befriend
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
. She was one of the founders of the American Purity Alliance and served as secretary and vice-president. She entertained
Lucy Stone
Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, abolitionist and suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer promoting rights for women. In 1847, Stone became the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a colle ...
,
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...
,
Anna Howard Shaw
Anna Howard Shaw (February 14, 1847 – July 2, 1919) was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and one of the first ordained female Methodist ministers in the United States.
Early life
Shaw ...
,
Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt ...
,
Amanda Deyo
Amanda Deyo (October 24, 1838 – November 1, 1917) was an American Universalist minister, pacifist, and correspondent. She was also a founder of women's right societies.
Early years and education
Julia Amanda Halstead was born in Clinton, Dutche ...
, and others. She contributed to the East Orange Flower Mission. Hussey was an honorary member of the National Woman Suffrage Association, a cause she had been devoted to for 33 years. She left them . She represented the organization in New Jersey as vice president. She contributed liberally to most of the charities in Orange.
In her private park, she entertained the “Little Mothers” from New York, the Whittier House kindergarten and other poor children. She entertained meetings of women physicians and lawyers, as well as woman suffrage meetings, and a meeting of the Society of New England Women, and Peace meetings to aid the Universal Peace Union. Hussey was a member of the Orange Political Study Club. She was a pronounced anti-slavery woman when
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he found ...
was mobbed. She was attending a meeting when she was in terror for fear they would kill him.
She early took a life membership to the Universal Peace Union for peace. They had built for her a cottage in the Peace Grove at
Mystic, Connecticut
Mystic is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Groton, Connecticut, Groton and Stonington, Connecticut, United States.
Historically, Mystic was a significant Connecticut seaport with more than 600 ships built over 135 years starting in ...
, which was named for herself and husband, “The William and Cornelia.” She then gave them .
Death and legacy
She had a very slight stroke of
paralysis
Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...
two years before her death, and again a few weeks before her death. On the evening of October 12, 1902, she was stricken with paralysis, and died on Monday morning, October 13, 1902. She was buried at Milton-on-the Hudson.
At the Thirty-sixth Annual Convention of the National American Suffrage Association, Catt spoke of Hussey and her generosity, saying:— Hussey left a bequest of to the National American Woman Suffrage Association.