BLACKWELL FAMILY ALICE STONE BLACKWELL SUBJECT FILE Biographical Papers TRIBUTES [*Aug 10, 1958 V. Gazette*] EVENTS THREE-QUARTERS OF A CENTURY AGO From the Vineyard Gazette for Aug. 10, 1883: One thing seems certain-our summer visitors give an extra impetus to business. The Chilmark beach was opened Monday. By request Miss Alice Stone Blackwell will deliver a free lecture on Woman Suffrage at the Chilmark M. E. church Aug. 17th. We need only add that she is Lucy Stone's daughter to insure her a large and appreciative audience. There was an "Ice-cream Festival" in Oak Grove Tuesday evening. [*Boston University News*] TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 1950 CLA '81 Grad Wills Colleges Suffrage Books Two last wishes expressed shortly before her death by Alice Stone Blackwell, CLA '81, are in the process of fulfillment. The daughter of Lucy Stone, a pioneer worker for women's rights, Alice Blackwell expresses the hope that the biography of her mother would someday appear on the shelves of every women's college in the nation, and also that the private papers of her parents be indexed and made available for future generations and historians. These papers contain invaluable records of the anti-slavery and women's movements in the United States. Set up to raise the $5,000 needed to place 2,500 volumes in the colleges, the Alice Stone Blackwell Fund Committee urges that memorial contributions be sent to Blackwell Fund, 21 Ashmont Street, Melrose 76, Mass. The University, one of the nation's pioneer schools in admitting women to study on an academic level with men students, honored Alice Blackwell in 1945, five years before her death, bestowing on her a Doctor of Humanities degree with the citation by Pres. Daniel L. Marsh: "Alice Stone Blackwell, beloved graduate of Boston University, writer and humanitarian whose name is synonymous with pioneering for woman's rights and the fight for woman's suffrage, and with the defense of the underprivileged and the oppressed the world round, I confer upon you Boston University's honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities." [*Baikav Armenian Daily, Boston Sept 20, 1951*] BLACKWELL [Armenian text] [Armenian text] Lucy Stone -- [Armenian text] $1.50 Armenian Poems 1.25 [Armenian text] Mrs Edna L. Stantial 21 Ashmont St., Melrose 76, Mass. MISS ALICE STONE [*Boston Globe*] People Talk About Last Easter Verse To the Editor--Almost 30 years ago, I joined the State League of Women Voters, leaving it soon after to form a small league in my home town. From the time of my joining until the present time, I have never failed to receive a card at Christmas and at Easter from Alice Stone Blackwell. This year was the second one in over 40 years in which I have failed to send Christmas cards to special dear friends, both times owning to unusual circumstances. I found the usual Christmas card waiting me from Miss Blackwell on my return in January from a six weeks' visit with a daughter in the South. I decided not to send a return one then, but to get the nicest one I could find for her at Easter, as a grateful thanks for her never-failing thoughtfulness. It surely saddened me to find I had delayed too long, but I couldn't help being glad she had gone to her well- earned rest in the glory of the Easter season, which she made closer to her acquaintances through her sweet little poems. Truly she will always be remembered in our hearts. Maud Wood Park has sent out the Easter greetings which Miss Blackwell evidently had prepared for mailing. She, with others, members of the Alice Stone Blackwell fund committee, are trying to carry out the last wishes of Miss Blackwell-that the biography of Lucy Stone be put into the libraries of all women's colleges and that the private papers of Lucy Stone and Henry B. Blackwell be put in order and indexed. If funds sent in should be more than necessary, it would be grand to have her own life story incorporated with the others. Perhaps Miss Blackwell's own verse, on this last Easter card, would be the best finale to this tribute: However long the Winter, However dark the days, The blessed Springtime never fails In spite of storms and floods and gales The growing light at last prevails And, smiling, greets our gaze. The joyous Easter music Says to us, "Valiant be! Forgetting sadness and dejection And every mournful recollection, Joy in the glorious resurrection That now the world shall see!" MARY B. H. RANSOM. Mattapoisett.[*1950*] MALDEN EVENING NEWS, MONDAY, MAY 15, 1950 MELROSE WOMEN AID IN PORTRAIT GIFT TO BOSTON UNIVERSITY Two Melrose woman, Mrs Maud Wood Park and Mrs Edna Lamprey Stantial, had important parts in the unveiling of the portrait of Alice Stone Blackwell at Boston University Thursday when retired Bishop L O Hartman was chief speaker. Mrs Park, "the lady who made lobbying respectable" was a lifelong friend of Miss Blackwell and Mrs Stantial, to whom Mrs Blackwell left all of her papers. Miss Blackwell was a student at Boston University from 1877 to 1881. The portrait, painted by an Armenian artist and presented Miss Blackwell in Faneuil Hall in 1904, was in appreciation of her work for the Armenians. On the platform at the presentation were two Melrose women, Mrs Mary A Livermore and Mrs Mary L Barrows. Mrs Julia Ward Howe and William Lloyd Garrison were also on the platform. Mrs Maud Wood Park, close friend of Miss Blackwell and co-worker in the women's rights program, told of her first meeting with the famed humanitarian at Radcliffe College where Mrs Park was a student. "I became a zealous suffragette after hearing a talk by Miss Blackwell," she said. Mrs Park stressed the important work Miss Blackwell did in effecting the merger of the Mass and New York women's suffrage organizations in the National American Woman's Suffrage Association. For 20 years Miss Blackwell was secretary of the group and for 15 years she was president of the Mass Woman's Suffrage Association, now known as the League of Women Voters. Miss Blackwell was honorary president of this latter group until her death this spring at the age of 92. Mrs Park was the first president of this organization from 1920 to 1924, and served as congressional chairman of the National Woman's Suffrage Association from 1916-1918 when the women's rights amendment passed Congress. She is also a trustee of the Alice Stone Blackwell fund. The committee on the portrait was composed of Mrs Leroy M S Miner, chairman; Mrs Everett O Fisk, Miss Ruth L S Child, Mrs Lucy Jenkins Franklin, Boston University's dean emerita of women; Mrs L O Hartman, Council president; and Mrs Edna Lamprey Stanial, lifelong friend of Miss Blackwell. Editorial Mar 16, 1950 Alice Stone Blackwell Alice Stone Blackwell, who passed away yesterday at the ripe age of 92, symbolized the whole range of the struggle of women through two generations to win untrammeled human status. Miss Blackwell gave herself to the cause of world peace, to civic advancement, to the education of women. She was in no sense fanatical but truly a soul dedicated to the struggle for human freedom. Hers was a long and useful life. The imprints of her labors are here on earth. Surely in that sense Alice Stone Blackwell will live on for many, many generations. Thurs Mar 16 1950 [*1957*] THE BOSTON HERALD, FRIDAY, SEPT. 13, 1957 Alice Stone Blackwell Centennial Tomorrow Tomorrow will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alice Stone Blackwell, daughter of famed parents who shared their passionate feeling for women's rights and the rights of all minorities. Her parents were the noted suffragist, Lucy Stone, and Henry B. Blackwell, a leader in the anti- slavery movement who once had a $10,000 price on his head for rescuing a slave girl in the South. Their daughter joined with them in the fight for women suffrage in the early part of a career that saw her become equally known as a biographer, poet and journalist. She was for many years editor of "The Woman's Journal," a publication founded by her parents in 1870. Her interest in writing continued throughout her life, and in 1930 she published her biography of her mother, "Lucy Stone - Pioneer of Women's Rights." In poetry, she was especially interested in the works of foreign writers; and her English renderings of these included such volumes as "Armenian Poems," "Songs of Russia," "Songs of Grief and Gladness," from Yiddish originals, and "Some Spanish American Poets." She was proud of other noted women in the Blackwell family, such as Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in modern times to win a modern degree, and the Rev. Dr. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman in the world to be ordained in the ministry. Alice Stone Blackwell received her A.B. degree from Boston University, in 1881, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Later, she served as a university trustee; and near the end of her life, Boston University awarded her the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities. She died in Cambridge, March 15, 1950.BOSTONIA April 1950 ALICE STONE BLACKWELL A Tribute to Miss Blackwell will appear in the May issue of Bostonia. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL, A.B. '81, L.H.D. '45, nationally known suffragist who helped bring to fruition the sweeping social changes advocated by her famous mother, the late Lucy Stone, died on March 15, 1950, at her home in Cambridge. She had been ill about one week. Born in East Orange, New Jersey, September 14, 1857, the daughter of Henry B. Blackwell and Lucy Stone, Miss Blackwell had championed the cause of womankind during her entire life. Along with her other accomplishments Miss Blackwell was internationally known as a poet and translator. She was graduated from Boston University in 1881 and awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Boston University in June, 1945. From 1881 to 1893 Miss Blackwell assisted her father and mother in editing the Woman's Journal. She was editor-in-chief until 1917, when the paper was consolidated with the Woman Citizen and the Woman Voter (National American Woman Suffrage Association). Miss Blackwell on her 89th birthday told interviewers that "Women's Suffrage hasn't done all the good we intended it should, and on the other hand, neither has it done the harm its opponents predicted." She received her early education at Chauncy Hall before graduating from Boston University. Among the first of her notable achievements was the union of the National and American Woman Suffrage Associations which had been divided for 20 years. Miss Blackwell was recording secretary of the National American Woman Suffrage Association for 20 years, and for many years headed the New England and Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Associations. She was honorary president of the Massachusetts League of Women Voters since its organization in 1920. She was presidential elector for LaFollette in 1924, and was an honorary trustee of Boston University. She had membership in the American Association of University Woman and was past president of the Boston chapter. She was honorary vice-chairman of the Boston Evening Clinic and Hospital. In 1930, a book entitled "Lucy Stone, Pioneer of Women's Rights," was published under her authorship. She had edited "The Little Grandmother of the Russian Revolution," Catherine Brshkovsky's story, in 1917. Besides writing poetry, she had translated and compiled "Armenian Poems," "Songs of Russia," "Songs of Grief" and "Gladness" (from the Yiddish), and "Some Spanish- American Poets." She helped compile "The Yellow Ribbon Speaker" in 1911. A few weeks before her death, Miss Blackwell presented her collection of Latin American books to the Chenery Library of Boston University. In 1919 she received the Ford Hall Forum gold medal for honored service to humanity. The pen was her chief weapon and she authored numerous pamphlets, articles, and letters along with her other writings. Miss Blackwell was a persuasive speaker. Her topics changed with the times. She advocated reform wherever oppression existed. She didn't restrict her reforms to America. Armenia, Spain, and Russia were some of the foreign lands where the impact of her work was felt. Her eloquence was outstanding. A distinguished lawyer once said he attended suffrage meetings whenever he could because he considered Miss Blackwell's rebuttal speeches the ablest presentation of controversial matter he had ever heard. Miss Blackwell's unselfishness was unbounded. Some years ago she felt it was wrong to spend money upon herself. She moved into an apartment and donated her large house and grounds in Dorchester to the New England Hospital for Women and Children. The property was returned when hospital authorities decided it was too costly to remodel. Subsequently, she gave it to poor Russian and Jewish women for vegetable gardens. She is survived by two cousins, Howard L. Blackwell and Mrs. Anna Blackwell Belden, both of Cambridge. 34 [*Christian Register April 1950*] news Alice Stone Blackwell A Tribute Alice Stone Blackwell, more than any other person, symbolizes the whole range of the struggle of women through two generations to win untrammeled human status. One of her aunts was the first to be ordained a minister; another was the first woman doctor. Her mother, Lucy Stone, was the first Massachusetts women to go to college; become a lecturer against Negro slavery and for woman's rights, when mere public speaking by women was considered an indecency; and throughout her life was one of the half-dozen great national figures in the woman's movement. Her father, Henry B. Blackwell, gave a lifetime of service to the woman's cause. The life of the daughter was inextricably interwoven from babyhood in the widely varied activities of her parents, which Miss Blackwell recorded in her book, Lucy Stone, Pioneer of Woman's Rights. Miss Blackwell was assistant or editor-in-chief of the Woman's Journal for thirty-four years; Secretary of the National American Woman Suffrage Association for about twenty years, and President of the New England and the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Associations. As Miss Blackwell's chief weapon was the pen, often anonymous, she was not personally in the public eye as much as the platform campaigners. But her work of editing the Women's Journal and writing for that paper, as well as innumerable leaflets, articles, newspaper letters and campaign pamphlets, supplied the movement. Among journalists she was regarded as an editor of outstanding ability. In the council chamber she applied her rich wisdom, vast information, fertile mind and dauntless spirit to mapping out the strategy which through the years carried the suffrage cause step by step to final victory. The instant the ballot was won she took up the task of educating and organizing the new voters for public-spirited citizenship. She became Honorary Chairman and an active member of the Massachusetts League of Women Voters. In line with her family's pioneering interest in the field of women's education, she served Boston University, her alma mater, as trustee since 1908. In 1945 the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities was conferred upon her. Throughout the long years, her sensitive humanity made her responsive to countless other struggles against oppression. Roused by the Armenian massacres of the '90's, she became a life-long champion of that people. Among her tireless and varies efforts to win them public understanding and support she rendered into English verse Armenian Poems. Her devotion to Armenia was recognized by the bestowal of the Order of Melusine. The atrocious oppressions of the Czar's government led her to active work with the American Friends of Russian Freedom. Her warm cooperation and friendship with Madam Breshkovsky extended over many years, and included the editing of her autobiography and letters. The struggles of labor equally enlisted her quick sympathies on countless occasions. Repeatedly she raised her voice against exploitation and the suppression of free speech, of the right to organize and of other civil liberties. Devoted to world peace, she sought during many years to turn her talents to its service by promoting cultural appreciation. She rendered into English verse Songs of Grief and Gladness (from the Yiddish), Songs of Russia, the Hungarian poems of Petofi; and Some Spanish-American Poets - the latter a monumental volume of over two hundred poems, opening to North Americans a new continent of literature. A noteworthy tribute to the importance of the Woman's Journal was made by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, whose wise leadership brought about the adoption of the Woman Suffrage Amendment. She said, "No words can express the gratitude I feel for the service Miss Blackwell and her dear father and mother gave to the Woman Suffrage Movement through the Woman's Journal. Without it we would still be unenfranchised." Once when I told her she was the most heroic person I had ever known, she laughed and replied, "But I never did anything except what was in the day's work." That characteristic remark indicates the way she had always taken herself. If the cause had required that she should be shot at sunrise, she would have gone out into the cold gray dawn as simply and naturally as she had done everything else. Death, too, would have been the day's work. her courage was not the mere buoyancy of the physically strong to whom nerves are unknown, but the reasoned, sustained courage of a person forcing herself to be brave because bravery was needed to accomplish the work at hand. Beneath her gifts as a writer and speaker lay rare devotion, not only to the woman's movement, but to all causes that strive for justice for human beings of every race, color and creed. Indeed, her sympathy for the suffering was so keen that it led her to give much time and effort to the prevention of cruelty to animals. In the death of Alice Stone Blackwell the world has lost a distinguished citizen. MAUD WOOD PARK NOTE: Mrs. Park, a co-worker with Miss Blackwell for many years, was organizer of the College Equal Suffrage League, and later was the first president of the League of Women Voters of the U. S.[*CS Monitor 1948 Sept 13 1948*] Miss Blackwell Starts Early On Her 1948 Christmas Cards On the eve of her 91st anniversary, Miss Alice Stone Blackwell of Cambridge, was planning her greeting card for Christmas, 1948. As we talked yesterday in her Cambridge apartment, this forward- seeing woman, whose experience covers three-fourths of a century of working for the emancipation of women, explained that her principal Christmas card problem was that of anticipating the political climate four months from now so that the card would be appropriate for the moment. Right now she is in the process of composing the poem that traditionally brings a Christmas message to the 1,000 friends to whom she sends greetings. Also on each cards are quotations of hope and encouragement from well-known persons. Quotations Made Last year's card including statements by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Emma Roseline Gifford, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Emma Carleton, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. On Miss Blackwell's latest Easter card - she also composes her own Easter message each year - were quotations from Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Victor Hugo, General Eisenhower, and Josephus Daniels. Miss Blackwell finds the early mornings hours are the best for inspirational thoughts. On the morning we talked she had awakened and begun working at 5:30 a.m. "Sometimes it's earlier, however," she stated. As a rule she likes to retire about 8 p.m. but if there is something particularly attractive to stay up for, such as an occasion of political importance to follow over the radio, she does so. Looking back over the years since her mother, Lucy Stone, first pioneered for woman suffrage, Miss Blackwell said that women haven't done all that it was hoped they would do with the vote. Effect on Women The greatest and most marked good that has been evidenced since this step of progress was taken, she feels is the educational effect on women themselves. A great many more women take an intelligent interest in public affairs than they did before they had the right to vote, she pointed out. In her room to inspire her are issues of the Women's Journal, published first by her mother and her father, Henry Blackwell, and later by Miss Blackwell. There are also pictures of her kindly- faced mother, her distinguished- looking father, and of Catherine Breshkovsky, called the "little grandmother of the Russian Revolution." Miss Blackwell enjoyed seeing and talking to "Grandmother Breshkovsky" on her two visits to the United States. Miss Blackwell also has on her wall an interesting collection of the portraits of the early "anti- slavery women," including Lucy Stone, the Rev. Antoinette Blackwell, Lucretia Mott, Lydia Maria Child, Abby K. Foster, Maria Chapman, and Harriet B. Stowe. [*Boston Jewish Advocate Sept. 13, 1945*] Alice Stone Blackwell, 88, Still Devoted to Humanity By SHIRLEY I. CIBLEY (Advocate Staff Writer) Alice Stone Blackwell, champion of women's rights and defender of minority movements, will celebrate her birthday tomorrow, September 14. The glory of her past years still sits with simple dignity upon the shoulders of this proud woman who, at eighty-eight, has not relinquished her passionate devotion to the cause of humanity. The daughter of Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell, leading figures in the anti-slavery and women's rights movements in America. Alice Stone Blackwell was born into humanitarian work and reared in an atmosphere atmosphere of civic and national consciousness. The heritage of love of freedom which Lucy Stone, in the morning star of the women's rights movement and Henry Blackwell left to their daughter (Continued on page 4) (Continued from front page) was not an inheritance to be lightly worn. Guardian of a precious birthwright, Alice Stone Blackwell proved herself more than her parents' daughter by taking from them the challenge of liberty and making herself the defender of peoples and causes long suppressed and oppressed. Born on September 14, 1857, Miss Blackwell devoted the first forty years of her mature life to the cause of equal rights for women. With her parents, she stumped from one end of the country to the other holding meetings, delivering lectures and pleading before legislatures and Congress the case for the emancipation of women. Until the Congress of the United States passed the nineteenth amendment, the women's rights movement was the guiding yardstick of Miss Blackwell's life, becoming her vocation and even her hobby. Has Prodigious Correspondence Today, Miss Blackwell is almost totally blind, but with the help of a reader and friends she keeps herself abreast of current events. Living in Cambridge, in the utmost simplicity, she is characteristically surrounded by books and newspapers. Her daily mail reaches amazing proportions and she carries on a prodigious correspondence with men and women from all over the nation who write to enlist her aid in incipient causes and movements. Though the days are gone in which she could lend actual physical activity to such organizations as she believes in, she is now unstinting with her mental stimulation and encouragement and gives generously of her advice and experience. When I saw Miss Blackwell on Tuesday evening, she was sitting in her den surrounded by mementos of the past. Despite the fact that she gained her major recognition as a defender of equal suffrage, she prefers to be known as a biographer, poet and journalist. It is as a journalist that she is listed in "Who's Who" and she speaks with fond reminiscence of her work in the field of literature. Literary Works For many years she fought for women suffrage as a staff member and later as editor of the newspaper "The Woman's Journal," a publication which subsequently was consolidated into the "Women's Citizen." In 1917, she edited "The Little Grandmother of the Russian Revolution," the life and letters of Catherine Breshovsky, which for a time was one of the six best sellers. "Lucy Stone - Pioneer," the biography of her mother, came out in 1930. Miss Blackwell's excursions into the realm of poetry were unique in themselves. All her life she had cherished an interest in poetry, particularly the verses of foreign poets, and she decided to translate their works into English. With no knowledge of the languages with which she wanted to work, Miss Blackwell enlisted the services of friends and acquaintances and had them make literal translations of the poetry. From these literal paraphrases, she made her English renderings and working in this manner published "Armenian Poems," "Songs of Russia," "Songs of Grief and Gladness from the Yiddish," and "Some Spanish-American Poets." Family of Firsts Miss Blackwell recalled that there are many firsts in her family. Her mother was the first Massachusetts woman to take a college degree when she was graduated from Oberlin College, Ohio in 1847, and was the first married woman to make an issue of keeping her maiden name after marriage. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, her father's sister, was the first woman in modern times to take a medical degree ALICE STONE BLACKWELL] degree, while the Reverend Dr. Antoinette Brown Blackwell was the first woman in the world to be ordained a minister. Miss Blackwell, herself, received her A.B. degree from Boston University in 1881 and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. The University recently awarded her the degree of Doctor of Humanities, "the credit for which," Miss Blackwell claims, "belongs to my parents." Hers has been a life which has embraced a wide scope of activities. Although she labored for years in the cause of equal suffrage, once that goal had been achieved the work of those decades blossomed forth and bore fruit in the fields of philanthropy, journalism and poetry. And at eighty-eight, she emerges in a juxtaposition of politician, editor, orator, literary figure, poet and woman whose talents, mind and heart have never been too busy to take up the cause of oppression.[*Sept. 14 1948 Standard - ??? New Bedford*] Fighter for Equal Rights For Women Reaches 91st Year If the telephone rings in her Cambridge home, Miss [*Alice*] Stone Blackwell is there to answer it in a jiffy. Not particularly surprising, except that Miss Blackwell, famed suffragist and long-time Vineyard resident, is 91 years old today. Back in 1939 they were writing of her as "a fragile little woman with snowy hair," which is accurate portrait of first-appearance, but if it implies anything less than a stout heart, lively curiosity and dogged perseverance, is totally misleading. Miss Blackwell, who has been a frequent contributor to columns of The Standard-Times, told the newspaper today she believes the cause of woman "is going gradually ahead, through the efforts of women here and there." Occupied Entire Life On her mind particularly these days is the movement to amend the Constitution to proclaim by law equal rights for men and women. Though emancipation of her sex has occupied her entire active life, she is strenuously opposed to such legislation as the amendment proposed. "I and many others strongly oppose an equal rights amendment. It would sweep away all the protective legislation for women built up in many years. "Equal treatment of unequal things is the reverse of justice." Unable to participate actively because of her advanced age and progressive impairment of her sight, Miss Blackwell is an interested spectator of housewife opposition to high food prices, especially he movement that started in the Southwest against meat costs. "I approve very heartily of layman attempts to lower cost of living," she said, "though with meat it doesn't affect me because I am a vegetarian. It is a way to accomplish an end." First and Last Miss Blackwell comes of a family always among the "first" and, in another sense, among the "last." Her mother, Lucy Stone, was the first Massachusetts woman with a college degree, and with her husband, Henry B. Blackwell, was a pioneer abolitionist and suffragist. The Lucy Stone League, for women who keep their maiden names after marriage, was one of Lucy Stone's creations. An aunt of Miss Blackwell was the first woman in the United States to take a medical degree, in 1849. Another aunt was the first woman to be ordained a minister, receiving the estate in 1853. All of these illustrious forebears lived to good age, the aunts being in their 90s. First Summer Visitors The Blackwell family, which began seasonal residence at Chilmark in 1860s are believed to be the Island's first Summer visitors. They kept returning for nearly 70 years, and Miss Blackwell herself stopped only when a constant companion became too infirm to make the trips. Miss Blackwell and her mother have fought the cause for women on issues from bloomer-wearing - "I won't wear them," said the daughter on her 90th birthday - to the ballot. "Make the world better," Miss Blackwell quotes her mother as saying. "I can think of nothing more worthwhile," said the nonogenarian who is watching the fruit of her labors from the Cambridge listening post. [*The Armenian Spectath? July 21, 1945*] Alice Stone Blackwell, Friend and Humanitarian By ROSE MINASSIAN On Monday, May 21, 1945, in Symphony Hall. Boston, there was conferred upon a grand old lady of 87 years a degree of the greatest honor by Daniel L. Marsh, president of Boston University. The occasion was the 72nd Annual Commencement Exercises of Boston University and the recipient of one of the highest honorary degrees, Doctor of Humanities, was Alice Stone Blackwell, friend, guide, and champion of the Armenian people for over half a century. The citation made by President Marsh in conferring the degree read: "Alice Stone Blackwell, beloved graduate of Boston University, writer and humanitarian, whose name is synonymous with pioneering for women's suffrage and with the defense of the underprivileged and the oppressed the whole world round - on the recommendation of the University Council and by the authority of Image: Alice Stone Blackwell the Trustees of Boston University, acting under the statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Humanities and admit you to all the honors, privileges, and responsibilities thereto appertaining." To the Armenian nation the words of the citation "defense of the under- privileged and the oppressed the whole world round" is but a brief way of putting into expression the many acts of humanitarianism by Dr. Blackwell to the Armenian people when help was most needed in the dark days of Armenian history in the late 1890's. The ovation received by Dr. Blackwell when this honor was conferred upon her was the loudest and the longest and when this was called to her attention she graciously replied that she was "pleased and surprised." Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities was awarded to Alice Stone Blackwell sixty four years after she received her B.A. degree from the same university. Looking back upon the years, we find that Dr. Blackwell first became interested in the Armenian question in the summer of 1893 when she made the acquaintance of a young Armenian Theological student at a camp on the shores of Canada conducted by Reverend and Mrs. Barrows. This young student's name was Ohannes Katchumian and it was through him that Alice Stone Blackwell became interested in an Armenian newspaper published in French. She read this newspaper and was horrified by the atrocities committed by the Turkish people upon the helpless Armenians. In the preface of her book "Armenian Poems" which is a translation of gems of Armenian poetry, Dr. Blackwell writes: "Two considerations led to the publication of this book. The first was the belief that the sympathy felt for the Armenians in their untold sufferings at the hands of the Turks would be deepened by an acquaintance with the temper and the genius of the people as shown in their poetry. The second was the fact that Armenian poetic literature, while worthy to be known, was practically inaccessible to the English speaking readers. Its treasures are locked up in an almost unknown language." Through Dr. Blackwell's staunch leadership there was formed an association called "Friends of Armenia." Its membership was enlarged as the years passed and interested in this group was Moses Gulesian of Boston who became an active worker. During this period a large number of Armenians were coming to America, the land of freedom. Since they had no place to go, Mr. Gulesian who at that time owned a small factory, made arrangements for the newly arrived immigrants to use the first floor of his factory. The unemployment situation was critical and the demand for employment exceeded the supply. But undaunted, Dr. Blackwell and her friends placed ads in the various newspapers. The only two fields left open were domestic help and farm work and most of the newly arrived Armenians were placed accordingly, with Mr. Gulesian acting as interpreter. Dr. Blackwell speaks proudly of her Armenian godson, Levon Exerjian, who is now a resident of Detroit. She recalls vividly the Christening rituals at which Bishop Sarajian officiated. She also fondly speaks of the days when the Armenian family traveled in its entirety, with mothers and babies attending together Church services, (Cont. on page 5) Alice Stone Blackwell (Cont. from page 1) socials, and club meetings. She speaks with amazement when she tells of how the babies would sleep through the entire program. Speaking of the fine Armenian characteristics, Dr. Blackwell said, "The Armenians have had an outstanding faithfulness to their Christian religion. They have been like Horatio on the bridge, a bridge between Europe and Asia." Recalling the atrocious murder of the late Archbishop Ghevont Tourian in Church on Christmas morning, Dr. [*over*]Blackwell was strong in her belief that "when a wrong is committed by a group or an individual, the blame cannot be placed on the entire race". Dr. Blackwell still expresses a keen interest in the Armenian younger generation and wanted to know whether they were able to speak, read, and write Armenian fluently. "It is a pity," she said, "that so many of the younger people do not know their fine heritage. It is something to live up to, otherwise, it is a pity," she said, "that so many of the younger people do not know their fine heritage. It is something to live up to, otherwise, it is like a great inheritance buried underground with no good coming from it." We asked this grand old lady of eighty seven years whose name we had heard so frequently spoken of by our parents and elders, if there was any message she wished us to convey to the Armenian people. " my love to them," said she, "and tell them that I would enjoy hearing from them. I love them all as though they were my grandchildren." We think that one of the finest achievements in life is to be as keen-witted, understanding, and noble a person at eight-seven as Dr. Alice Stone Blackwell, friend and champion of the Armenian people for over half a century. Alice Stone Blackwell...... a name which will always be engraved in the hearts of all Armenians with gratefulness and appreciation. THE SPRINGFIELD UNION, SPRINGFIELD LEADERS AT MASS, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS' ANNUAL CONVENTION HERE Chairmen of work department of Edward Scott O'Keefe of child welfare ; Miss Alice Stone Blackwell of Boston, honorary president of the league, and Mrs. Walt Dewey of Boston, international cooperation chairman, Standing : Miss Louise S. Earle of Lynn, e?? chairman, and Mrs. Robert Harvey of Springfield, hostesTHE BOSTON HERALD, THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1934 RECEIVING FORD HALL FORUM AWARD Alice Stone Blackwell receiving the award of the Ford Hall Forum for "preeminent service to human welfare," which was given her last night at the 26th annual banquet of the forum. Left to right: Mrs. E. Glendower Evans, winner of the award last year; George W. Coleman, president of the Ford Hall Forum, and Alice Stone Blackwell. Depression Man-Made, Says Lewisohn; Miss Blackwell Gets Ford Hall Medal Voicing the same thought that occurs in the Old Testament again and again, "Repent, repent, for the day is at hand," Ludwig Lewisohn, brilliant novelist, philosopher, and lecturer, who spoke last night at the 26th annual banquet of the Ford Hall Forum, declared that the present troubles with our man- made civilization are man-made and not incontrovertible unseen forces. This was Lewisohn' first American public appearance in 10 years. "Society is man-made, and we live in a man-made world," he said. "The evils of our age are the evils of men and women - of those who do wrong, and of those who in their sloth of heart and mind, permit those evils to be done. "It is evasion to blame anything on 'economic forces,' when you mean by 'economic forces' simple wickedness, selfishness, stinginess, and stupidity." The banquet, attended by approximately 500 persons, was the occasion of the second annual bestowal of a gold medal as an award for pre-eminent service to human welfare. The medal was awarded to Alice Stone Blackwell who has been a worker for "the oppressed, the unfortunate, the misunderstood, and the underprivileged, no matter of what race, sex, creed or color" all the days of her life. As the award was pinned on Miss Blackwell's black-silk bosom, her proud old face bending above it and looking down, the crowd cheered, and rose to do her honor. Mrs. E. Glendower Evans, who was the recipient of the award last year, affixed the medal on Miss Blackwell. Speaking privately afterward, Miss Blackwell said that the greatest single advance women must hake now in their fight toward freedom and rights for all people, is to learn to distinguish facts from propaganda. "You know," she said, "men never wanted women to get the suffrage because they were afraid they couldn't fool them. But now they don't mind that we have it, because they have found that we are human - we can be fooled. It is our job now to learn to distinguish disinterested information from that which is colored to suit the purposes of any group or person." A skit, "In the Goldfish Bowl," or "A Code for Critics of the Roosevelt Revolution," was presented after the speaking, with the following persons taking part: Roger Baldwin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union; Francis G. Goodale, Boston attorney; Edward L. Israel, a rabbi of Baltimore; George E. Roewer, Boston attorney; Joseph R. Brodsky, chief counsel for the International Labor Defence; Richard W. Hale, Boston attorney; John J. Mahoney, professor of education at Boston University; Kirtley F. Mather, professor of geology at Harvard University; David D. Vaughan, professor of social ethics at Boston University; Herbert B. Ehrman, Boston lawyer who was junior council for the defence in the Sacco- Vanzetti case; Robert J. Watt, secretary- treasurer of the Massachusetts State Federation of Labor; Groeg Scudder, of the publicity department of the National Society for the Advancement of Colored People; Dorothy Kirchwey Brown, and Alice Stone Blackwell, workers for social welfare. [*Boston Globe May 2?, 1930*] WOMEN VOTERS NAME NATIONAL HONOR ROLL Tribute Paid 69 Suffrage Leaders at Anniversary Celebration in Louisville LOUISVILLE, Ky, May 1 (A.P.) - The woman labor leader and the millionaire's wife were sisters sharing homage today when the National League of Women Voters announced the 69 illustrious names of its national roll of honor. A woman's hall of fame for the full sweep of the suffrage movement, it honored almost equally the living and the dead, in the 10th anniversary celebration of the victory of "the cause." They called it "a memorial hour," but 20 of those honored were present to hear the handclapping when their names were read in "the rollcall of the States." They were present to applaud from personal knowledge, the names of those who once marched shoulder to shoulder with them in suffrage parades. To every one of them the honor meant, not "singling out" by some faroff national jury, but a spontaneous expression of the appreciation of the community in which she served. With each "nomination" to the honor roll went at least $1000 for the foundation fund, which is being established to carry along the work they pioneered. That fund now totals about $75,000. Mrs Upton Absent One notable absence was that of Mrs Harriet Taylor Upton. Member of the Ohio Public Welfare Board, she was too busily concerned with the recent Columbus Prison fire to keep her Louisville "date" to be lauded. Just in time for the celebration came Dr Harriet B. Jones, 74, of Glendale, W Va, radiant because the honor roll included her career - a lifetime spent as a pioneer physician in a small town. She lobbied for 20 years to get State institutions built, and finally was elected to the State Legislature. Mrs Robert M. LaFollette, long a sharer of the glory of a husband and a son, was honored in her own right for the women of Wisconsin. Two league officer's granddaughters, Gladys and Florence Harrison, and a speaker-stepson, Dr Richard Olding Beard, shared the triumph of Mrs H. G. Harrison, 82, of Minneapolis, a wee white-haired woman, who has taught the same Bible class 52 years, in addition to campaigning. Still a Leader at 91 But her record of activity was surpassed by an absentee protege of the California delegation, Mrs Elmira T. Stephens, of whom it was said: "At 91, she is still an outstanding leader in Santa Monica." An honor roll poster displaying photos of the 69 was brought from Washington headquarters to the convention Hall. The strong face of Mrs Florence Kelley of New York, labor Image: ALICE STONE BLACKWELL leader, once chief State factory inspector of Illinois, and now general secretary of the National Consumers' League was right beside the very fluffy and feminine photo of Mrs Guilford Dudley, who directed the ratification campaign of Tennessee, the 36th State that made effective the 19th amendment in 1920. Credit for that victory also went to the late Mrs Frank Leslie, who left her entire estate of about $2,000,000 to the suffrage cause "at the critical hour." Thus was the suffrage story told - in 69 personality chapters - women educators, preachers, journalists. Echoes of a tempestuous past sounded again through the convention hall. There were tributes to Elizabeth Stady Canton, Lucretia Mott, and the rest of the sturdy spirits who started the women's ballot snowball rolling in the Seneca Falls meeting of 1848 - it has been piling up snow-drifts in Illinois lately, giving 1930 the first woman candidate for Senator. Notable on the living list was Alice Stone Blackwell, 73, of Boston, "daughter of Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell" - yes, the "Lucy Stoners" who prefer to keep their maiden names date back that far. The Honor Roll The honor roll follows: Susan B. Anthony (deceased), nominated by New York; Dr Anna Howard Shaw (deceased), nominated by Michigan and Pennsylvania; Mrs Carrie Chapman Catt, nominated by Iowa and New York. California - Mrs Frank A. Gibson, Los Angeles; Mrs Caroline M. Severance (deceased); Mrs Clara Shortridge Foltz, Los Angeles; Mrs Elmira T. Stevens (deceased); Mrs Charlotte Lemoyne Wills (deceased). Colorado - Mrs Sarah Platt Decker (deceased). Connecticut - Mrs Isabella Beecher Hooker (deceased); Miss Katherine Ludington of Lyme Miss Caroline Ruutz-Rees of Greenwich, Mrs Charlotte Perkins Gilman of Norwich. District of Columbia - Mrs Helen Hamilton Gardner (deceased), Mrs Ellen Spencer Mussey, Washington, D.C. Illinois - Miss Jane Addams of Chicago, Mrs Henry W. Cheney (deceased), Mrs J. Paul Goode (deceased), Miss Julia Clifford Lathrop of Rockford. Indiana - Mrs Zerelda Wallace (deceased). Iowa - Mrs Carrie Chapman Catt. Kansas - Mrs Charles H. Brooks of Wichita. Massachusetts - Miss Alice Stone Blackwell of Boston, Mrs Mary A. Livermore (deceased), Miss Fanny Osgood (deceased), Mrs Maud Wood Park, formerly of Boston; Mrs Lucy Stone (deceased). Michigan - Mrs Belle Brotherton of Detroit. Mrs James G. MacPherson of Saginaw (now resident of Pasadena, Calif). Dr Anna Howard Shaw (deceased). Minnesota - Mrs H. G. Harrison of Minneapolis. Dr Ethel Edgerton Hurd (deceased). Miss Isabel Lawrence of St Cloud. Mrs Camp Noyes of St Paul. Miss Maria Sanford (deceased). Mrs Andreas Ueland (deceased). Missouri - Mrs Emily Newell Blair of Joplin. Mrs George Gellhorn of St Louis. Mrs Luella St Clair Moss of Columbia. Nebraska - Miss Grace Abbott of Grand Island. New Hampshire - Mrs Armenia Smith White (deceased). New Jersey - Mrs Mina C. van Winkle, formerly of Newark, now of Washington, D C. New Mexico - Mrs K. Webster of Santa Fe, formerly of Washington, D C. New York - Miss Susan B. Anthony (deceased), Mrs Carrie Chapman Catt of New York city. Dr Elizabeth Blackwell (deceased). Mrs Raymond Brown of New York city. Miss Mary Garrett Hay (deceased). Mrs Florence Kelly of New York city. Mrs Frank Leslie (deceased). Miss Harriet May Mills of Syracuse. Dr Anna Garlin Spencer of New York city. Mrs Elizabeth Cady Stanton (deceased). Mrs Charles L. Tiffany (deceased). Mrs. Norman D. Whitehouse of New York city. James Lees Laidlaw. Ohio - Judge E. Allen of Columbus. Mrs Elizabeth J. Hauser of Girard. Miss Belle Sherwin of Cleveland. Mrs Harrier Taylor Upton of Warren. Oregon - Mrs Abigail Scott Duniway (deceased). Pennsylvania - Mrs John O. Miller of Pittsburg. Mrs Lucretia Mott (deceased). Dr Anna Howard Shaw (deceased). Rhode Island - Mrs Elizabeth Buffum Chace (deceased). Mrs Pauline Wright Davis (deceased). Tennessee - Mrs Guilford Dudley of Nashville. Mrs George Milton of Chattanooga. Mrs Leslie Warner (deceased). Texas - Miss M. Eleanor Breckenridge (deceased). West Virginia - Dr Harriet B. Jones of Glendale. Wisconsin - Mathilda Franziska Anneke (deceased). Rev Olympia Brown (deceased). Mrs Ben V. Hooper of Oshkosh, Mrs Robert M. La Follette of Madison.