Margaret Livingston Chanler Aldrich (1870–1963) was an American philanthropist, poet, nurse, and

woman's 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 ...

advocate. She served as a nurse with the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

and

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

, travelling to the Philippines,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, where she organized the care and treatment of wounded soldiers, for which she received a gold medal from Congress. She helped pass a 1901 bill establishing the Women's Army Nursing Corps and later served as an advocate for rural nursing, encouraging community members to support nurses. A daughter of the New York politician

John Winthrop Chanler John Winthrop Chanler (September 14, 1826 – October 19, 1877) was a prominent New York lawyer and a U.S. Representative from New York. He was a member of the Dudley–Winthrop family and married Margaret Astor Ward, a member of the Astor family. ...

, and wife of the ''New York Times'' music critic Richard Aldrich, she was a member of the prominent

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With ancestral roots in the Italian Alps region of Italy by way of Germany, the Astors settle ...

, and later in life wrote of the family in her memoirs, ''Family Vista'' (1958). A proponent of women's suffrage, she was a past president of the Protestant Episcopal Woman's Suffrage Association. Margaret purchased from her siblings the family estate Rokeby, where she started a dairy farm. As of 2019, the property remains with her descendants.

References

External links

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Letter: Mrs. Richard Aldrich to Ida M. Tarbell, June 10, 1930
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrich, Margaret Chanler 1870 births 1963 deaths American suffragists Astor Orphans American philanthropists American women poets American nurses American women nurses Chanler family Winthrop family