Gertrude Foster Brown (Mrs. Arthur Raymond Brown, July 29, 1867 – March 1, 1956) was a concert pianist, teacher, and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

. Following the passage of women suffrage in New York State in 1917, and pending passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Brown wrote ''Your Vote and How to Use It'', published in 1918. She was Director-General of the Women's Overseas Hospitals in France, founded by suffragists, in 1918. In addition to her work in the New York suffrage movement, she helped to found the National

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

. She was the Managing Director of 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 ...

'' from 1921-1931.

Early years

Gertrude Foster was born on July 29, 1867, in

Morrison, Illinois Morrison is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,188 at the 2010 census, down from 4,447 in 2000. It is the county seat of Whiteside County. It is located on the Historic Lincoln Highway, the nation's first t ...

, to William Charles Foster and Lydia Anne Drake. Foster studied piano at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...

in Boston, Massachusetts. She finished a four-year course in two years, graduating in August 1885. After teaching for a year in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, she went to Europe, studying with

Xaver Scharwenka Theophil Franz Xaver Scharwenka (6 January 1850 – 8 December 1924) was a German pianist, composer and teacher of Polish descent. He was the brother of Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka (1847–1917), who was also a composer and teacher of music. Life ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Élie-Miriam Delaborde Élie-Miriam Delaborde (born Eraïm-Miriam Delaborde; 7 February 18399 December 1913) was a French virtuoso pianist and composer. He was also renowned as a player of the pedal piano. Life His birth was registered under the name of his mother L ...

in Paris between 1886 and 1889.

Performing career

On January 25, 1889, Foster made her professional debut as a pianist with the

Philharmonic Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

in Berlin. By July 1889, she had returned to the United States, joining the

Chicago Conservatory of Music The Music Conservatory was founded in 1867 as the Chicago Musical College, a conservatory. In 1954, the Chicago Musical College became part of Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schau ...

, where she taught and performed until 1896. In August 1893 Gertrude Foster married Arthur Raymond Brown (1865-1944), an artist and advertising executive who worked for the ''

Chicago Evening Post The ''Chicago Evening Post'' was a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, from March 1, 1886, until October 29, 1932, when it was absorbed by the ''Chicago Daily News''. The newspaper was founded as a penny paper during the technologica ...

''. In 1896, they moved to New York City, where Raymond Brown worked for the Hawley Advertising Company. He was known as an illustrator, author and art editor. Gertrude Foster Brown continued to play and performed lecture recitals on

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

and his

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

Suffrage career

Gertrude Foster Brown organized a Woman Suffrage Study Club in New York in 1909, which later became part of

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 ...

Woman Suffrage Party The Woman Suffrage Party (WSP) was a New York city political organization dedicated to women's suffrage. It was founded in New York by Carrie Chapman Catt at the Convention of Disfranchised Women in 1909. WSP called itself "a political union of exi ...

. Brown attended the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...

(NAWSA) convention in 1910. She was elected president of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association in 1913. Among her activities were the organization of suffrage parades in New York City. ''How It Feels to Be the Husband of a Suffragette'', which was published anonymously in 1915, has been attributed to her husband. Brown was active in campaigning in New York for the passage of women's suffrage. Victory there on November 6, 1917, was an important step towards the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Following the passage of women suffrage in New York State in 1917, and pending passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, Brown wrote ''Your Vote and How to Use It''. It was published in February 1918 by Harper & Brothers, and was endorsed by the New York State Women Suffrage Party. In it she encouraged New York women to be good citizens and exercise their new ability to vote. Dealing with civics "from the standpoint of the woman voter", women were encouraged to "regard their vote as a trust to be used not to advance partisan politics, but to further human welfare." ''Your Vote and How to Use It'' was one of a number of "citizenship manuals" educating women in their new rights and responsibilities and encouraging them to take their new obligations seriously. Some of its materials were also used as the basis of a correspondence course for women voters, distributed by the New York State Women Suffrage Party. The book itself was listed as suggested civics reading for

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

who wanted to earn a Citizen's Badge, in the 1920 guides handbook ''Scouting for Girls''. In 1918, when the suffrage movement organized the Women's Overseas Hospitals in France, Gertrude Foster Brown became Director-General, serving in France. Seventy-four women staff were sent over from the United States to the hospital. Brown helped to found the National

, serving as chairperson of the group that drafted its organizational plan. "Simple, direct, workable, it blazed a wide trail free of difficulties." Brown was commended enthusiastically for her efforts. She also was involved in the New York Woman's City Club. From 1921 to 1931, Brown was general manager of '' The Woman's Journal'', renamed ''The Woman Citizen''. Founded in 1870 by

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 ...

and Henry B. Blackwell, the journal was published until 1931 and the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. The Browns traveled in Europe and North Africa during the 1930s. Gertrude Foster Brown became a vocal supporter 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 ...

. During

World War II 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 ...

, she was active in the Women's Action Committee for Victory and Lasting Peace. In 1945, she represented the committee at the founding

United Nations Conference on International Organization The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Calif ...

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 ...

. Among her papers is an autobiographical account of her life, ''Suffrage and Music: My First Eighty Years.''

Later life

The Browns had no children. Raymond Brown died on April 30, 1944, at their New York apartment at 1883 Imperial Flats—Nos. 55-57 East 76th Street. He had been nursed during his illness by his wife. Gertrude continued to live in the apartment, and organized a chamber music group that played there. Gertrude died on March 1, 1956, in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

References

External links

Brown, Gertrude Foster, 1867-1956. Papers of Gertrude Foster Brown, 1822-1978 (inclusive), 1910-1949 (bulk): A Finding Aid

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Brown, Gertrude Foster, 1867-1956. Additional papers of Gertrude Foster Brown, 1732-1956 (inclusive), 1815-1956 (bulk): A Finding Aid
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

, Sophia Smith Collection,

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...