Charlotte Emerson Brown (April 21, 1838 – February 5, 1895) was an American woman notable as the creator and first president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC),[b] a progressive women's movement in America beginning in the 1890s.[3] During her presidency, membership expanded quickly from 50 cultural clubs to several hundred, and grew to representing tens of thousands of women.[3] She was instrumental in the GFWC's formation of state-level organizations.[3]
Brown was an avid reader and student who spoke many languages.[4][2] She graduated from the Abbot Academy of Andover.[4]
Career
Brown taught in Montreal with Hannah Lyman, Vassar's first female president,[2] and studied business in Chicago.[2] Brown's first clubs were a music club and a French club,[2] and her home in Illinois hosted literary, musical and artistic events.[6] She worked part time as a teacher; from 1879-1880, she served as Jane Addams's teacher of the German language.[6]
She became president of the Woman's Club of Orange.[2] In 1890, she was elected president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, an organization which encouraged women to educate themselves and become advocates in their communities.[2] Members advocated for clean milk, street lights, and libraries,[7] as well as for regulations regarding child labor and child and maternal health.[7] According to one viewpoint, the exclusion of men in these clubs was helpful in allowing women to develop their own leadership skills.[8] Under Brown's leadership, the organization grew from an initial meeting of delegates from sixty-one clubs to 475,000 U.S. women from 2,865 clubs in the mid-1920s, and was notable for assisting the career development of advocates such as Eleanor Roosevelt. Membership peaked at 830,000 members in 1955.[7] Brown served as the organization's president until 1894.[9]
Personal life
Brown married William Bryant Brown on July 20, 1880,[6] a congregational pastor who served parishes in several states.[6] The couple settled in East Orange, New Jersey.[2] Charlotte Brown died on February 4, 1895.
Notes
^Note: Blackwell was the first female ordained as a Protestant minister in the United States.[1]
^Willard & Livermore (1893) refer to the organization as "General Federation of Women's Literary Clubs".[2]
^Flower, Benjamin Orange; Ridpath, John Clark; Tyner, Paul; McLean, John Emery; Fanning, Neuville O.; Patterson, Charles Brodie (1897-01-01). The Arena. Arena Publishing Company.
Further reading
Emerson, Benjamin K. The Ipswich Emersons (1900)
Houde, Mary Jean. Reaching Out: A Story of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (1989)
Swanson, Cynthia N. Brown, Charlotte EmersonAmerican National Biography (2000) online
Wells, Mildred White. Unity in Diversity: The History of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (1953).
Wood, Mrs Mary I. Stevens. The History of the General Federation of Women's Clubs: For the first twenty-two years of its organization (History department, General federation of women's clubs, 1912). online
