Mildred Scott Olmsted (December 5, 1890 – July 2, 1990) was an American Quaker pacifist, in leadership positions with the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

in the United States.

Early life

Mildred Scott was born in

Glenolden, Pennsylvania Glenolden is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,153 at the 2010 census, down from 7,476 at the 2000 census. Geography Glenolden is located in eastern Delaware County at (39.898812, −75.292456). I ...

, the daughter of Henry J. Scott and Adele Hamrick Scott. She was a student at the

Friends' Central School Friends' Central School (FCS) is a Quaker school which educates students from nursery through grade 12. It is located in Wynnewood, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania in Greater Philadelphia. The school was founded in 1845 in ...

in Philadelphia, and majored in history at Smith College, completing her degree in 1912. She pursued further studies in social work at the Pennsylvania School of Social and Health Work, and marched for suffrage against her father's orders.Descriptive summary
Mildred Scott Olmsted Papers
Swarthmore College Peace Collection.

Career

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Mildred Scott worked in Paris with the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

, planning recreational activities for soldiers stationed there. After the war, she went to Berlin, under the auspices of the American Friends Service Committee, to work for famine relief. In 1922, she took a leadership role with the Pennsylvania chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), working with

Hannah Clothier Hull Hannah Hallowell Clothier Hull (July 21, 1872 – July 4, 1958) was an American clubwoman, feminist, and pacifist, one of the founders and leaders of the Women's Peace Party and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Early life ...

. She rose to the rank of national organization secretary of the WILPF in 1934, and in 1946 became national administrative secretary; she retired as the organization's executive director in 1966. Her work on behalf of WILPF was marked by her strong interest in working across national and racial lines; she organized conferences of American and Mexican women (1928) and American and Soviet women (1961). Olmsted was also involved in other peace and women's organizations, especially those based in the Philadelphia area. She helped to found SANE (now

Peace Action Peace Action is a peace organization whose focus is on preventing the deployment of nuclear weapons in space, thwarting weapons sales to countries with human rights violations, and promoting a new United States foreign policy based on common sec ...

), served as vice-chair of the Pennsylvania chapter of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(ACLU), and served on the United Nations Council of Non-Governmental Organizations, and was active with the Main Line Birth Control League. Olmsted was awarded honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College and Smith College.

Personal life and legacy

Mildred Scott married judge Allen Seymour Olmsted II in 1921. Judge Olmsted was one of the founders of the ACLU. They raised three children together. Mildred Scott Olmsted was widowed in 1977, and died in 1990, five months before her 100th birthday, at home in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania. Her papers are archived in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. A book-length biography of Olmsted was published in 1992. In 2015 a

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares fo ...

marker was placed outside Olmsted's residence in Rose Valley in her honor. Her home, Thunderbird Lodge, is now owned by the Rose Valley Centennial Association.Mildred Scott Olmsted
Rose Valley Centennial Association.

References

1890 births 1990 deaths American pacifists American women in World War I American Quakers Smith College alumni People from Glenolden, Pennsylvania Friends' Central School alumni 20th-century Quakers {{authority control