CATT, Carrie Chapman Correspondence re Mrs. CATT's death Women's University Club The Biltmore 40 Vanderbilt Avenue New York, New York March 24th, 1947 Dear Miss Wilson, At the meeting of the Board of Managers of the Women's University Club, held March 19th, 1947, a resolution was passed expressing the deep regret of the members of the Board, and the Club, at the passing of one of the Club's most distinguished members, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt. She was cherished as a friend by all who knew her, and her loss is a grievous one to the Club. Sincerely yours, Janet K Gregg President Miss Alda H. Wilson 120 Paine Avenue New Rochelle, New York Mrs. Malcolm E. Cummings, Pres dent New York State League od Women Voters 461 Fourth Avenue New York 16 N.Y. My dear Mrs. Cummings; - The resolut on n honor of Mrs Carr e Chapman Catt passed by the Off icial Board of the New York State League of Women Voters s deeply apprec ated, and w ll be preserved together w th other similar tributes. Please accept my thanks as well as those of Mrs Catt's family and personal fr ends. March 15 1947 Sincerely yours, A W New York League of Women Voters 461 Fourth Avenue New York 16, N.Y. Telephone: MUrray Hill 3-2866 President MRS. M. E. CUMMINGS Acknowledged A W Mar 15 47 RESOLUTION of the BOARD OF MANAGEMENT New York League of Women Voters WHEREAS, our revered member, the founder of the League of Women Voters, the great leader of women of many lands, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, has reached the end of he earthly career; WHEREAS, we shall sorely miss her gracious charm, her clear insight, her keen sense of justice, her indomitable courage, and her gift of inspiring others, organizing and marshalling for victory their energies over the forces of injustice and the scourge of war; WHEREAS, we wish to pay tribute to her great accomplishments: the winning of equal suffrage in the United States; progress in the fight to remove discrimination against women; the founding of the International Suffrage Alliance; the founding of the League of Women Voters; and of the Conference on the Cause and Cure of Waf; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: that we cherish her memory to the end that we may not falter in our efforts to serve the general welfare through our work in the League of Women Voters, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that a copy of this resolution be sent to Miss Alda Wilson, the loyal friend, helper and companion to Mrs. Catt for the past nineteen years. On behalf of the State Board, Dorothy T. Cummings Mrs. Malcolm E. Cummings State President This fourteenth day of March One Nine Four Seven MAILING ADDRESS: BOX 1000. NEW YORK I, N. Y., U.S.A CABLE ADDRESS: UNO NEW YORK UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES [HUNTER COLLEGE, BRONX 63, NEW YORK MELROSE 5 4700] Lake Success, New York Fieldstone 7-1100 IN REPLY REFER TO: 10 March 1947 Miss Alda Wilson 120 Paine Avenue New Rochelle, N.Y. Dear Miss Wilson: On behalf of the Status of Women Section of the Human Rights Division of United Nations, I am writing to express to you our sorrow at the passing of Mrs. Chapman Catt. The message which Mrs. Chapman Catt sent to the opening meeting of the recent session of the Commission on the Status of Women was greatly appreciated and her work and example will be a great inspiration to the members of the Commission in their future deliberations. Sincerely yours, Elsie E. Bowerman Elsie Bowerman, Acting Chief Section on the Status of Women MRS. CHARLES W. McCLURE 1257 SOUTH JEFFERSON AVENUE SAGINAW, MICHIGAN 3-20-1947 Miss Alda Wilson, 120 Paine Avenue, New Rochelle, New York. Dear Miss Wilson: I was saddened to read of Mrs Catt's death. I worked under her leadership and that of Mrs Maud Wood Park in Washington on the National Congressional Committee of the National American Women's Suffrage Association from time to time from the opening of our Headquarters at 1626 Rhode Island Avenue until the passage of the Susan B Anthony Amendment. I am writing you as someone who was close to her to express my keen sense of loss in her death. She has always been, as has Mrs Park, an inspiration to me and I am sure that whatever I may have accomplished in anything I may have done toward the benefit of women either directly or indirectly I owe to the contact with these two splendid women. They have been corner stones in the building of my life. One vivid recollection from the days in Washington of Mrs Catt stands out in my memory. I was at the time one of the younger workers on the Committee. We were interviewing members of Congress and every night after dinner we gathered around the fireplace Mrs. Charles W. McClure 1257 South Jefferson Avenue Saginaw, Michigan and each one in turn reported her experience of the day. Mrs Catt made suggestions as to the way we had handled our interviews. This was all quite informal. Our regular reports were dictated to typists and kept on file. When it came my turn I reported a conversation I had had that day with a congressman from my own state. He complained about a speech recently made by a member of the Congressional Union, in which she had said, he claimed, that because of his stand against Women's Suffrage he should be classed with idiots, imbeciles and the inmates of penal institutions. He said this was very unfair and that it had made him "very unhappy". I reported that I had sympathized with him and said that I was sorry but that I had also said that from this experience I felt sure he could now understand how women felt about being classed with this same group in not having the vote and that he might therefore change his view on Suffrage. Mrs Catt smiled and said, "That was clever of you, Mrs McClure, to turn his remark in that way." I have, of course treasured this comment as one of the finest compliments I have ever had. With kindest wishes, Sincerely yours, (Grace Sample McClure, Mrs. C.W.) PERU LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS PERU, INDIANA To the members of the Family of Mrs Carrie Chapman Catt, At a meeting of the League of Women Voters of Peru yesterday, the following resolution was passed by its members:- "The members of the League of Women Voters of Peru feel a sense of great personal loss in the passing of Carrie Chapman Catt, organizer and since it's beginning, honorary President of the League of Women Voters. Many members of the Peru League worked with her PERU LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS PERU, INDIANA in the campaign to obtain suffrage for women and many others have sat under her at suffrage conventions. Her generalship and skill advanced the date for women to vote many years and she worked to the day of her death in behalf of the things women care about. We mourn the passing of a great women and a great citizen. Mrs. Thomas H. Arnold President of the League of Women Voters of Peru _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Whereas: The Eternal has called from our midst a woman in whose vision the League of Women Voters first took form, and whose wisdom directed its first growth, and to whose perseverance the League, or Country and the whole world owe much, Be it resolved that The members of the Larchmont League of Women Voters bow their heads in thankfulness that Carrie Chapman Catt was sent upon this earth and blessed with the years to enjoy the signs of the fruition of her works. National Self Government Committee, Inc. TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY BY GIVING RESPONSIBILITY . MAKING BOYS AND GIRLS PUBLIC MINDED 1. TEACHER TRAINING INSTITUTIONS 2. SCHOOLS 3. COLLEGES 4. JUNIOR CITIES, AGE 16-21 80 BROADWAY, NEW YORK 5, N.Y. TELEPHONE DIGBY 4-3174 ASSOCIATE COUNCIL Charles A. Beard Charles C. Burlingham Carrie Chapman Catt Ida Clyde Clarke Margaret Blaine Damrosch John Dewey Herman Hagedorn Hamilton Holt Owen Johnson Angelo Patri Julia Richmond* Alfred E. Smith* Lilian D. Waid* DIRECTORS Richard Welling, Chairman Lyman Beecher Stowe, Vice-Chairman Sophia Pollack, Sec'y & Treas. Herbert Agar Reed Harris Johanna M. Lindlof Robert Littell William McAndrew* Joseph D. McGoldrick Cyrus C. Perry Henry F. Pringle Chauncey D. Stillman Julius Yourman JUNIOR DIRECTORS Lloyd Marcus Howard Sanders Robert Smith Warren Solodar William B. Welling April 11, 1947 Miss Alda Wilson 120 Paine Avenue New Rochelle, New York My dear Miss Wilson: On behalf of the National Self Government Committee I wish to express to you our deepest sympathy on the loss of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, whose contribution to the world citizenship will be an inspiration to those left to carry on her work. Mrs. Catt's membership on the Associate Council of the National Self Government Committee for many years was a contribution we have deeply appreciated. It is regrettable that our Committee has suffered the loss within a few months of both its founder Richard Welling and Mrs. Catt, who were contemporaries. Sincerely yours, Sophia Pollack Secretary A good school is a place where young people of any age come together to educate themselves and one another, with the help of good teachers, in those social habits of cooperation and studies needed for effective citizenship in a democracy. *Deceased [*Ans. AW*] LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE UNITED STATES 726 Jackson Place Washington 6, D.C. Miss Anna Lord Strauss President March 11, 1947 Miss Alda Wilson 120 Paine Avenue New Rochelle, New York Dear Miss Wilson: We have much for which to be thankful. Mrs. Catt gave the better part of her eighty-eight years to leading the women of this country and of the world in their fight for suffrage and for peace. It is seldom that in one person we find combined the ability to give farsighted leadership with real vision, to be an able administrator, and to be politically astute. Mrs. Catt's untiring labors were an inspiration to all who were privileged to work with her. The League of Women Voters is particularly fortunate to have benefited from her great wisdom. The sound foundation which she laid has made possible our effective growth in later years. But to those of us who were privileged to have known Mrs. Catt, it was her human qualities that endeared her to us especially. Her keen interest in all that was going on, her encouragement to newcomers in the field of public service, and the twinkle in her deep blue eyes made a visit with her a rare treat and one that we shall always remember. We have lost a great leader, but we are humbly grateful for all that she gave to us. Our final tribute to her is one which the League of Women Voters will pay most willingly and conscientiously; that is to work with renewed effectiveness and insight to obtain the objectives for which Mrs. Catt gave her unbounded energy, especially that of peace. With deepest sympathy, I am Sincerely yours, Anna Lord Strauss President ALS/c Business and Professional Women's Club New Rochelle, N.Y. March 25, 1947 Miss Alda Wilson 120 Paine Avenue New Rochelle, New York My dear Miss Wilson: At a regular meeting of the Business and Professional Women's Club of New Rochelle, after a period of silence in tribute to the late Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt it was regularly moved, seconded and adopted that a resolution expressing the Club's sympathy and reverence for the late Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, honorary member of the Club be drawn up and forwarded to Miss Alda Wilson, companion and friend of Mrs. Catt for many years. The following resolution was therefore adopted. Whereas, Almighty God has called to her eternal reward our esteemed Honorary Member, MRS. CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT, who throughout her life championed the cause of women and universal Peace; served as an inspiration to us all; and reflected honor upon her country, her community and our Club: BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Business and Professional Women's Club of New Rochelle extend its condolences and sympathies to the members of her family and her immediate circle with the sincere resolve that the Club will ever cherish her memory and endeavor to uphold the high ideals which she embodied in her life. Very truly yours, Emily M. Sypher Secretary Mrs. A.M. Sypher 59 Locust Avenue New Rochelle, N.Y. New Rochelle League of Women Voters New Rochelle, New York 18 March 1947 Miss Alda Wilson 120 Paine Avenue New Rochelle, N.Y. Dear Miss Wilson: It is a pleasure to inform you that the New Rochelle League of Women Voters has made a very generous contribution to the Ethel K. Loeb Student Leadership Fund in memory of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt. We are confident that you will feel, as we do, that this is a peculiarly fitting memorial, for it was Mrs. Catt who served as example and inspiration to Mrs. Loeb in her civic work. Also, as you know, Mrs. Catt took a very real interest in the work of our committee, and constantly sought ways to encourage the development of leadership qualities in young people. We feel that the action of the League would have pleased her very much. Sincerely yours, Edith B. Laub Secretary, Ethel K. Loeb Student Leadership Fund Pi Beta Phi Fraternity Founded 1867 [*Ans 3/18/47 M.G.P.*] National Historian Marian Keck Simmons (Mrs. Oliver B.) 6415 Morningside Drive Kansas City 5, Missouri March 12, 1947 Miss Mary Gray Peck, 120 Paine Avenue, New Rochelle, New York. My dear Miss Peck: I was shocked to read of the death of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt. With her passing, the world has lost one of its most tireless and selfless workers, and Pi Beta Phi fraternity has lost one of its most loyal members. Those of you who had the privilege of knowing her intimately must feel this loss even more keenly. From a New York Herald-Tribune clipping, which was forwarded to me, I note that you are her biographer. Since I have in my files some material which may not be available to to you, I am taking this opportunity to send to you a few items which may reveal another aspect of her busy life. The Directory of Pi Beta Phi lists her as having been initiated into the Iowa Gamma chapter of the fraternity, at Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa, in 1878. The chapter was chartered on May 11, 1877. The first sixteen initiates are all shown as charter members. "Carrie Lane" was the seventeenth. From the 1936 edition of the History of Pi Beta Phi, I find that she attended the eleventh national convention of the fraternity, which was held at Galesburg, Illinois on April 1, 2, 3, and 4, in the year 1890. On the first day of the convention she delivered an address, entitled: "The New Revolution". It is described as follows: "In a most forcible and womanly manner she pictured the history of woman's progress from the time she was regarded as the slave of man to her present state, where she is surely and steadily receiving her just place." On the evening of that same day she delivered one of six banquet toasts. She was listed on the program as follows: "The Pi Beta Phi in the World," Mrs. Carrie Lane-Chapman, Charles City, Iowa." I also have a note to the effect that she received the first honorary degree to be conferred by the University of Wyoming. (You doubtless have that information already.) At the fraternity's thirty-fifth national convention, held at Swampscott, Massachusetts, June 23 to 29, 1946, the delegates passed a resolution to set aside January 9, Mrs. Catt's birthday, to be known henceforth as Chapter Loyalty Day. The resolution provides that each fraternity alumna remember on that day her own chapter to which she owes her privilege of membership; and that each active member wear narrow wine and blue ribbons under her badge in honor of Mrs. Catt. The above resolution applies to 91 active chapters and approximately 220 alumnae clubs, scattered over the United States and Canada, and with a total living membership of almost 42,000. If you wonder why Mrs. Catt's birthday was designated as Chapter Loyalty Day, when the fraternity has many other loyal alumnae, who might be so honored, perhaps the following quotations from a mimeographed letter, written on December 6, 1946, by Mrs. Frank T. Cowan, chairman of the Pi Beta Phi committee on publicity, will help you to understand. Mrs. Cowan writes: "Mrs. Catt's busy and successful life has never detracted from her loyalty and keen interest in her fraternity. At the time when she was active as president of many national organizations, she said that on the opening sessions of a Convention or Conference, she always wore her Pi Beta Phi badge." And in another paragraph, she writes: "Her loyalty is evident to her own chapter. Some years ago when Iowa Gamma was remodeling its home, she advanced several thousand dollars, with the understanding that, while she was to receive the interest, at her death the debt would be cancelled. Within recent years, however, she has cancelled the note." Mrs. Catt had been invited to attend the Swampscott Convention, mentioned above, but she was unable to do so. I am enclosing copies of two letters which she wrote to the fraternity's Grand President, Miss Amy B. Onken, on that occasion. It is possible that you are already familiar with all of the facts which I have mentioned in this letter. If so, it does not matter. In writing to you, I feel that I am paying my respects to the memory of a very great woman. Even the little research which I have done on her life, has increased my sense of gratitude to an organization which has given me many fine friendships. Mrs. Catt has sent us several of her books to be preserved in the national archives. I hope that we may add your biography to that collection. Sincerely yours, Marian K. Simmons (Mrs. Oliver B.) Westchester League of Women Voters 171 East Post Road, White Plains, N. Y. White Plains 507 MRS. HARVEY CONOVER President Vice-Presidents MRS. PAUL F. BRISSENDEN MRS. ARTHUR J. CROWLEY MRS. EARLE D. MCBRIDE MRS. J. WILLIAM ROBSON MRS. ALLEN S. WILBER MRS. DUDLEY A. WILSON Secretary MRS. MORTON R. GOLDSMITH Treasurer District Leaders MRS. ISIDOR GREENWALD MRS. JOSHUA MEIER MRS. JOSEPH REISMAN MRS. I. D. TAUBENECK March 21, 1947 Miss Wilson 120 Paine Avenue New Rochelle, New York Dear Miss Wilson: At a recent County-wide meeting of all the local Leagues in Westchester, the following resolution was passed by the Westchester League of Women Voters: "Whereas, it was through the vision and work of Carrie Chapman Catt that the League of Women Voters was established as a living memorial to all those who helped bring about suffrage for women; and "Whereas, Mrs. Catt's own words best tell the value of her example, we quote 'I do not think there is much to say about me except that I have given my life to the suffrage work and that I have performed all the various obligations which an enlistment in the cause puts upon one. I have opened the doors of churches and halls and lighted the kerosene lamps; taken the collection, pronounced the benediction; organized the Club or Committee etc. etc. and have held all the offices imaginable from club president up and down and sidewise. As I look back upon it this seems to be a record of drudgery, doing each day what the cause seemed to demand of me ...' and "Whereas, we know of no League member with the greatness of mind and the humility of spirit to match her accomplishments; therefore "Resolved: That the Westchester League of Women Voters wishes to express continuing gratitude to Mrs. Catt for her contribution to all women, and to pledge its members to carry forward the light of better citizenship which she envisioned." Dorothy J. Conover Mrs. Harvey Conover President WESTERN UNION AKF77 PD Govt=The White House Washington DC 9 244P Miss Alda Wilson= =120 Paine Ave New Rochelle NY= =With the passing of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt an era in our national life comes to a close. She had been a pioneer in the fight for woman's suffrage in the long ago years when that cause was unpopular. Persistently and fearlessly she campaigned the suffrage amendment to the federal constitution. =Happily, after the victory was won she lived more than a quarter of a century to see American women take their rightful places on an equal basis with men in the exercise of the ballot. She will be widely mourned and long remembered.= Harry S Truman. WESTERN UNION .N63 PD=Raleigh NCar 10 1133A Miss Mary Gray Peck= [*Ans by MGP*] =A friendship of nearly half a century and comradeship between my wife and Mrs. Catt saddens me at the passing of the greatest American woman. She was a stateman of vision and a crusader =for progress and righteousness. My sympathy goes out to all her associates and friends= =Josephus Daniels. WESTERN UNION AKF197 DL PD=SanFrancisco Calif 10 930A Miss Ada Wilson Paine Ave= 120 Paine Ave NR My deep sympathy Mrs. Catts loss to women the world over Will be felt the world over but we must be grateful for her long and useful life= =Eleanor Roosevelt. [*39 Washington Sq*] Catts. [*Ans R.L.*] AKF134 PD=Washington DC 10 1113A Miss Mary Gray Peck= 120 Pine Ave RL= [*Ans by MQP*] Deeply shocked at the passing of Mrs Catt such wonderful friend and untiring workers for the rights of all women and the first citizen= Mary Anderson= National Geographic Society Washington D.C. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY LEARN WITH EXCEEDING REGRET OF THE DEATH OF Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt AN HONORED MEMBER OF THE ORGANIZATION AND ON BEHALF OF THE SOCIETY EXTEND TO THE FAMILY PROFOUND EMPATHY Gilbert Grosvenor PRESIDENT Western Union A.N. Williams President The filing time shown in the date line on telegrams and day letters is Standard Time at point of origin. Time of receipt is Standard Time at point of destination. N127 PD=KL NewYork NY 10 639P 1947 Mar 10 PM 7 11 Miss Alda Wilson= 120 Paine Averl= I join with millions throughout our nation and the world in mourning the passing of Carrie Chapman Catt. Her wise counsel will be missed not only by her many friends in her own country but in the world-wide circle of the United Nations. It is rare indeed that a life so full of achievement for the good of humanity is spared for so long a period of usefulness=. And the influence of her dynamic yet gracious personality will be an inspiration to generation yet to come I pay my tribute to a loyal friend, a great leader, an outstanding humanitarian and anoble woman. Mrs Watson joins me in deepest sympathy to you and the members of her family. Thomas J Watson Western Union A.N. Williams President The filing time shown in the date line on telegrams and day letters is Standard Time at point of origin. Time of receipt is Standard Time at point of destination. N95 PD=EB Newyock NY 10 224P Family of Mrs Carrie Chapman Catt= 120 Paine Ave RL The National Council of Jewish Women expresses its heartfelt sympathy on the irreparable loss of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt. Her passing terminates a career distinguished by its service to the causes of womans suffrage and world peace. The Nineteenth Ammendment to the Constitution is, in large measure, a tribute to her political insight and organizational ability. The National Council of Jewish Women was proud to have been associated with Mrs. Catt in the National Committee on the Cause and Cure of War and later in the Womens Action Committee for Victory and a Lasting Peace = Mrs Joseph M Welt National President. Transcribed and reviewed by volunteers participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.