Misplaced Pages

#159840

60-651: Storrow is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Helen Storrow (1864–1944), American philanthropist, early Girl Scout leader, and chair of WAGGGS for eight years James J. Storrow (1864–1926), Boston-area investment banker instrumental in forming General Motors, and its third president Thomas Storrow Brown (1803–1888), journalist, writer, orator, and revolutionary in Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) See also [ edit ] Storrow Drive [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with

120-475: A Miss Katherine Howard. In youth, her main interest was music, a love she shared with her brother Thomas. After boarding school, she spent time in Germany continuing her musical studies, later going on to graduate from Smith College. Helen met her future husband, James Jackson Storrow Sr., in 1882, while touring Europe with her relatives. Though James was just one year behind her brother Thomas at Harvard ,

180-682: A belief in simplicity, equality, and individual dignity. They were staunch abolitionists , whose home served as a stop on the Underground Railroad . The Wrights and their daughter, Eliza Osborne, were loyal friends of the Underground Railroad's famed “conductor," Harriet Tubman . They helped Tubman settle in Auburn in 1860, and provided Tubman with odd jobs, enabling her to support her family. Helen's maternal grandfather was, like her father, ambivalent at best about

240-483: A general lack of intelligence, all for the visitors' benefit. This performance by the girls, though funny to them, apparently infuriated Storrow...visitors ultimately walked away from their visit to the pottery with the image of the ignorant immigrant... It was Helen's fervent wish to dispel stereotypes of immigrants by demonstrating the artistic accomplishments of the women at the Paul Revere Pottery, and

300-478: A large family, but had only one child, James Jackson Storrow Jr., who was born on November 20, 1892, in Boston, Massachusetts. When the hoped-for larger family did not materialize, they extended the mantles of "Aunt" and "Uncle" to include not only their own nieces and nephews, but also their son's companions and the children of friends. Helen wrote warmly of those precious years and the activities they sponsored for

360-577: A member of the Saturday Evening Girls during the 1910s: The S.E.G. talks that I have attended have helped me a great deal, in that I learned from them what other girls learned in high school, and I was thus given a general idea of the literature at different periods, civic and social problems in different countries, [the] fine arts...Through the club I became connected with the Branch Public Library. During my work there I

420-502: A personal interest in the daily operations of the Saturday Girls Club. She announced in 1914 that she would no longer be able to subsidize the pottery, but agreed to fund the operation for an additional year, while they developed a plan to become self-sustaining. In 1915, before withdrawing the bulk of her support, Helen provided the club with a new building constructed on Nottingham Hill; an "L-shaped, two-story pottery, in

480-486: A position later held by both his son and one of his grandsons. Munson Osborne was described as a loving husband and father, though he had a tendency to behave like a "benevolent autocrat." He respected his wife, and happily entertained her more liberal friends and relations. However, Osborne expected Eliza to conform, for the most part, to the traditional Victorian ideal of wife and mother. This meant virtually abandoning suffrage work after her marriage, and devoting

540-591: A stream of youthful guests at the country home she and Jim eventually built on a hillside in Lincoln. From the earliest days of their marriage, the Storrows were interested in the settlement movement and charity work, helping to build playgrounds in poor immigrant neighborhoods, sponsoring night schools, vocational schools, and evening centers. James also took a keen interest in civil service reform, educational reform and legal reform, spearheading an effort to diversify

600-503: A wide range of individuals to speak before the club: Edward Everett Hale , Reverend Paul Revere Frothingham, Charles Eliot Norton , activists Paul Davis and Meyer Bloomfield , social reformers Vida Scudder and Robert Woods, and many doctors, lawyers, judges, librarians, artists, rabbis, clergy, performance artists, suffragists, business leaders, and writers spoke to the S.E.G. on a variety of classical and contemporary issues. Seven additional clubs were eventually formed, each named for

660-695: A wool merchant, and the eldest son of "the Great Emancipator", abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison Sr. The younger Garrison was an abolitionist, pacifist , an opponent of Jim Crow laws and the Chinese Exclusion Act , an advocate of women's suffrage, Henry George's single tax , free trade , equality for Freedmen and immigrants, and a founding member of the American Anti-Imperialist League . His younger brother, Francis Jackson Garrison, served as

SECTION 10

#1732783418160

720-407: A young art student, arrived at the school in 1899, looking for a position in the nursery. She approached Helen with a letter of introduction from her uncle, William Garrison Jr., who was an old friend of Guerrier's father. Not long after coming to the school, Guerrier was tasked with the job of maintaining the school's reading room. Her story-hour quickly gained immense popularity with young women at

780-542: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Helen Storrow She was married to James J. Storrow , a prominent banker, who was the second national president of the Boy Scouts of America . Born Helen Osborne on September 22, 1864, in Auburn, New York , she was the youngest of David Munson ("Munson") Osborne and Eliza Wright 's four children. Her parents were raised in modest circumstances, but by

840-626: Is one of only three American women ever granted the Silver Fish Award by Lady Baden-Powell. It was awarded to her in recognition of her long service and dedication to scouting. Helen's interest in dance began in the early 20th century, when several middle-aged Boston socialites organized a dance class to "amuse themselves and their friends." Helen later said: For several years we considered it only funny that we should be pirouetting and hopping about it in arabesque positions, and were ashamed to try to dance really well; but gradually we lost

900-600: The First World War held the post of New England Fuel Administrator. He was largely responsible for preventing a severe coal shortage, actually using his own credit to ensure vital shipments of coal reached the Northeast, during the winter of 1917–1918. The Storrows rejected "Nativist" ideology, i.e., the anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic , anti-immigrant stance widely embraced by the American upper classes during

960-519: The kindergarten movement in the United States. The school provided classes in printing, pottery, stone carving, woodwork, woodcarving, woodturning, cement work, sewing and dressmaking; there was also an athletic club, a debating club, a drama club, music lessons, reading rooms, a kindergarten, and a nursery for infants belonging to working mothers. It was at North Bennet Street Industrial School that Helen met Edith Guerrier . Guerrier, then

1020-410: The surname Storrow . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Storrow&oldid=855102084 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description

1080-583: The Jacksons, Higginsons, Tracys, and the Cabots who famously " talk only to God ." His father, also named James Jackson Storrow, was a prominent attorney, whose clients included Alexander Graham Bell and the government of Venezuela ; his mother, Ann Maria Perry, was the grandchild of naval hero Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry , and a distant cousin of President Thomas Jefferson . James graduated in 1888 from Harvard Law School , and for twelve years

1140-804: The New York State Woman's Suffrage Association, and first vice president of the Cayuga County Political Equality Club. A tireless worker, at age eighty, Eliza led a delegation of women to Albany where they spoke before the State Legislature , lobbying for suffrage. Eliza was also involved in numerous philanthropic endeavors. In 1882, Eliza helped found the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, an institution that may have inspired Helen's interest in settlement work. Modeled on an organization of

1200-810: The Pine Tree Camp, on her property at Long Pond, in Plymouth , which became the First National Girl Scout Leaders' Training School. Decades later, Scouts were still flocking to the camp for training. In July 1932, Helen provided the Girl Scouts with a retreat in Switzerland. She purchased a chalet just outside Adelboden , in the Bernese Oberland . Known simply as Our Chalet , the retreat remains in

1260-738: The Playground Association of America, Helen could be found in the ballroom of the New Willard Hotel in New York City, leading a "practical demonstration" in folk dancing for those in attendance. A year later, she volunteered to instruct the Fathers' and Mothers' Folk Dancing Club at the Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston. In 1915, Helen helped found, and served as director, of the American branch of

SECTION 20

#1732783418160

1320-536: The School Committee in 1905, he received a ringing endorsement from The Pilot , Boston's leading Irish-Catholic newspaper : Mr. Storrow is a Protestant, but he has a host of friends and admirers among the Catholics, clergy and laity alike, for his philanthropy which knows no test of religion nor of color; for his upright life; for his sincere devotion to the best interests of those citizens who most need

1380-629: The Scouting movement, and his wife, Lady Baden-Powell . James Storrow's interest in the Boy Scouts mirrored his wife's interest in the girls' movement; he served as the second national president of the Boy Scouts of America . In Helen's honor, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts Council presents individuals who have made "outstanding contributions to Girl Scouting" with the Helen Storrow Heritage Award. [1] Helen

1440-580: The Storrows met not in Massachusetts, but in Switzerland , while scaling the Matterhorn . They were married, after a lengthy engagement, in 1891. The shy and studious James, was described as "unassuming," but "magnetic", "a born leader and a keen judge of man; unassuming, yet in his quiet way exerting a strong influence over his fellows...a dominating personality." Temperamentally, he was

1500-616: The aftermath of the American Revolution . Osborne left his father's home at the age of fifteen, accepting work wherever it could be found. After several failed business ventures, Osborne founded D. M. Osborne & Co. in 1856, and made a fortune manufacturing agricultural machinery. Osborne's life revolved around his work. He was an exacting, but fair employer, and years after his death his former employees still spoke of him with admiration. One of Auburn's most respected citizens, Osborne served three terms as mayor (1877–1880);

1560-546: The arts, among them Isabella Stewart Gardner . While their productions met with great success, the girls often resented the supercilious attitude of their wealthy benefactors. As previously stated, in the early 20th century many wealthy Americans, including some supporters of the Saturday Girls Club, viewed Italian, Irish and Jewish immigrants as inherently ignorant, either unable or unwilling to comprehend cultural and intellectual subjects, and unlikely to benefit from advanced education. In order to raise funds and gain publicity,

1620-483: The bulk of her time to domestic affairs. Having been raised in a family of social reformers, Eliza (Wright) Osborne was stubborn, self-reliant, witty and outspoken, a far less conventional figure than her spouse. She was the eldest child of David and Martha (Coffin) Wright . Both parents were descended from Quakers who traveled to the new world with William Penn . The Wrights were not practicing Quakers, but they still adhered to many tenets of their parents' faith –

1680-518: The club staged an annual exhibition, allowing affluent Bostonians to tour the pottery and view their work. The young women were angered by the “expectations of inferiority,” and the belittling remarks made openly by some visitors, who were astonished to discover that "illiterate" and "ignorant" girls could produce such beautiful artwork. The young women rebelled against their condescension: In an interesting display of oppositional resistance…the girls acted out by feigning ignorance of English and exhibited

1740-506: The club. A naturally exuberant, enthusiastic woman, during the club's early years Helen became a familiar figure, forming lasting friendships with several of the girls, and providing the club with invaluable financial support. The Storrows would later personally finance the college education of several young men and women from the Saturday Girls Club, the North Bennet school, and various settlement houses they patronized. Believing that

1800-554: The condescension shown by many of her peers toward immigrants. She took a genuine interest in the women and children of the North End, joining the North Bennet Street Industrial School's board of managers in 1898, and serving as secretary of the institution. The school was founded in 1885 by Pauline Agassiz Shaw . The daughter of scientist and Harvard professor, Louis Agassiz , Shaw pioneered

1860-436: The day of the week when members met. There was a club for girls as young as ten, another for working women in their mid-twenties, and clubs for girls every age in between. At a time when many first and second generation immigrants failed to graduate, or even attend high school, clubs like the Saturday Evening Girls played a vital role in educating their members. One young woman, Vanessa Casassa Bruno, described her experience as

Storrow - Misplaced Pages Continue

1920-515: The feeling of self-consciousness and enjoyed it too much not to try to do our best. During her travels in Europe, Helen developed a passion for folk dancing, becoming a staunch devotee of Cecil Sharp , aiding him in his efforts to popularize folk dance in the United States. Helen devoted increasingly lengthy amounts of time to providing lessons in English folk dance. In 1911, during a benefit for

1980-640: The first president of the Boston chapter of the N.A.A.C.P . Helen's cousin, Eleanor Garrison, graduated from Smith College , and worked for Carrie Chapman Catt as an organizer at the New York office of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Continuing the family tradition of social reform, Eleanor later worked for several years as secretary of Armitage House Settlement in New York City . In

2040-466: The hands of the Girl Scouts, and hosts "Helen Storrow Seminars", focusing on international education. Helen served for many years as First Vice President of Girl Scouts, Inc., the national organization of American Girl Scouts, and as chairman of the executive committee of Massachusetts Girl Scouts, Inc. Serving as Second Vice President of the national organization was none other that Lou Henry Hoover , wife of future president, Herbert Hoover . After

2100-597: The initial founding of the American Girl Scouts organization, there were numerous squabbles with the older organization of British Girl Guides , including arguments over uniforms, territorial disputes, and an unsuccessful attempt by the Girl Guides to convince the Girl Scouts to change their name; the British organization considered the term "Scout" too masculine for a girls' movement. Helen responded to

2160-498: The issue of women's suffrage , but that didn't prevent Helen's grandmother from actively campaigning on behalf of political equality. Martha Wright helped to organize the first suffrage convention at Seneca Falls in 1848, prepared the final draft of Elizabeth Cady Stanton 's Declaration of Sentiments , and briefly served as president of the National Woman's Suffrage Association before her death in 1874. Martha's role in

2220-546: The late 19th and early 20th century. While serving on the Boston School Committee, James quickly "gained a reputation" among Irish-Catholics "for absolute fairness in the sensitive matter of hiring and promoting Boston teachers and administrators". He insisted that teachers should be hired and promoted on the basis of "merit regardless of religious background," whereas before, Catholics had been routinely discriminated against. When James ran for re-election to

2280-513: The late 19th century was an impoverished, over-crowded, filthy, disease ridden area, reminiscent of the London slums depicted by Dickens . The ward suffered from the highest infant mortality rates, child mortality rates, and homicide rates, in Boston. Many affluent Bostonians blamed conditions in the North End on the residents themselves, immigrants, who were predominantly Jewish and Italian. Massachusetts state legislator Edward C. Chandler voiced

2340-479: The latter argument by suggesting that, instead, the Girl Guides should refer to themselves as Scouts: Our name, Girl Scouts, is very dear to us, and seems to us the logical name. The terms scout and scouting apply to girls and their activities as appropriately as to boys, and represent the same laws and ideals. The idea that we are trying to make boys out of the girls is soon dissipated when the girls show their increased usefulness at home... The suggestion to change

2400-584: The makeup of the Boston Chamber of Commerce , and helping to establish a juvenile court . In a testament to how highly regarded he was by Bostonians from every social strata , on multiple occasions James was asked to act as a mediator between corporate interests, the city, and labor unions . Elected on the Democratic ticket, James served for several years on the City Council , and during

2460-584: The mid-1880s, Munson Osborne sued Cyrus McCormick for patent infringement. The case proved to be difficult and protracted, with McCormick ultimately agreeing to settle out of court, paying Osborne $ 225,000, an enormous sum at the time. However, the stress of the case had a terrible effect on Osborne. On July 6, 1886, Osborne suffered a massive coronary. Helen and her mother, having witnessed his collapse, tried fruitlessly to revive him, but he died later that evening. Following her husband's death, Eliza resumed her suffrage work, going on to become vice president of

Storrow - Misplaced Pages Continue

2520-456: The name met with the determined opposition from both our girls and their officers, and we shall in all probability remain scouts. I wish most heartily that we might share the same name. Would the Guides consider changing? I wish they would. In spite of the initial tension between the British and American organizations, the Storrows became close personal friends of Lord Baden-Powell , who founded

2580-440: The opinion of many in Boston when he stated that "the personal habits of the tenants are largely responsible for such conditions…Undoubtedly many a suitable tenement house is turned into a place of misery by the ignorance and vice of its occupants." Helen agreed that further education was necessary, and should be encouraged in immigrant communities, but she rejected the notion that immigrants were inherently inferior, and disliked

2640-590: The organizations connected to the Saturday Girls Club. However, as one author noted: "For the girls, it [the opinion of the Brahmins] may not have mattered; Storrow's vision and dedication to securing a future for them, perhaps conflicted with their own ideas of identity, self-definition, and respect." In spite of tensions between the young women and their benefactors, the pottery and clubs continued for several decades with considerable success. Helen's growing involvement in scouting precluded her from continuing to take

2700-413: The playground movement. Distressed by the number of children being killed and injured in accidents while playing in the streets, Boston philanthropists began constructing playgrounds. It was also hoped that if the children had a proper place to play, rather than congregating in the streets, they would be less likely to become involved in gang-related criminal activities. The North End of Boston during

2760-413: The polar opposite of the out-going, effervescent Helen. However, behind his stiff mien lay an idealistic nature and a keen sense of humor. Their marriage was described as "a perfect partnership” of equals, and Mr. Storrow's biographer claimed that “no two people ever saw more completely eye-to-eye on all the things that count." James was descended from a long line of Boston Brahmin families, including

2820-418: The pottery. They produced a wide variety of objects, including pitchers, vases, inkwells, plates, bowls, and even lamps. The Saturday Girls regularly staged theatricals, operettas, recitals, and folk dancing exhibitions, to raise additional funds for the pottery. Helen personally instructed the girls in the art of folk dancing. Their performances were attended by leading Boston philanthropists and patrons of

2880-442: The public schools. He will be found where he has been found heretofore, alert for the largest possible moral, material and intellectual benefits for the neediest, rather than seeking to control appointments for personal or political motives... Helen was involved in a wide variety of charitable activities during her life ranging from settlement work to land conservation. Helen's initial focus was on children's charities, beginning with

2940-709: The remainder of his life with Eliza's family, dying at a ripe old age in 1897. Martha Wright's friends and fellow reformers, individuals like Frederick Douglass , Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony , and Anna Howard Shaw , were regular guests in the Osborne home. Helen's aunt, Ellen (Wright) Garrison, was also involved in the fight for suffrage. She was an active member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association , campaigning with her sister-in-law, Fanny Garrison Villard . Ellen married William Lloyd Garrison Jr.,

3000-530: The same name in Boston , the institution provided young working women with classes in practical subjects, such as sewing and cooking, later adding more intellectually gratifying classes in modern languages and literature. Helen was sent away to boarding school at the age of eleven. At the time of her father's death, she was spending most of each year at a boarding school in Springfield, Massachusetts run by

3060-450: The school, forming the foundation of what in 1901 became the Saturday Evening Girls' Club (S.E.G.). The club derived its name from the fact that its members were mainly young working-women, and high school students, who could only attend on Saturdays. The weekly story-hour was soon expanded to include discussions about history, politics, civics, economics, art, literature, and lectures given by well-known figures. Guerrier managed to attract

SECTION 50

#1732783418160

3120-443: The store in Boston where their wares were sold and, later on, they also conducted pottery classes. Helen, Guerrier, and Brown, agreed that an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere should surround the girls. Accordingly, their rooms were always filled with "fresh flowers and bright light," and as they worked, the young women were treated to "dramatic readings and soothing music" performed by the children of well-to-do families who patronized

3180-537: The style of an English country house…with warm, well-lighted rooms," and additional space, where Guerrier and Brown made their residence. Helen was introduced in 1915 to the founder of scouting in America, Juliette Gordon Low . It may have been this encounter that sparked her interest in the scouting movement. Whatever the reason, not long afterward, Helen began holding Girl Scout training courses at her summer home in Lincoln, Massachusetts. In 1917, Helen founded

3240-475: The suffrage movement has been largely overshadowed due to the fame of her older sister, the feminist, abolitionist, and Quaker minister, Lucretia (Coffin) Mott . The Wrights lived at just a walking distance from the Osborne mansion, and played a significant role in the upbringing of the Osborne children, including Helen. David Wright came to live with the Osbornes a few years after Martha's death, and spent

3300-576: The time of Helen's birth, Munson Osborne had become one of the most prominent men in Cayuga County . Helen and her siblings enjoyed a happy and privileged upbringing, attending private schools, traveling through Europe , and spending summers at their home on Owasco Lake at Willow Point, New York. The Osborne mansion at 99 South Street served as a cultural center in Auburn. Her eldest sister, Emily (1854–1944), married Springfield banker Frederick Harris; her next eldest sister, Florence (1856–1877),

3360-538: The young women with employment and a skill set. Helen readily agreed to subsidize the venture and the Paul Revere Pottery was born. In 1908, she purchased a large townhouse at 18 Hull Street to serve as the club's new headquarters; the pottery and kiln were erected in the basement. The operation was wholly run by the Saturday Girls. They produced and decorated the pottery, operated the kiln, ran

3420-484: The young women would benefit from time spent in the countryside, Helen also provided them with a summer camp at Wingaersheek Beach in West Gloucester, Massachusetts . During a tour of Europe in 1906, funded by Helen, Guerrier and her partner, Edith Brown, had an epiphany – they would return to America and develop a pottery. The enterprise would be operated by Brown, Guerrier, and the Saturday Girls, providing

3480-459: Was able to help children and foreigners to read proper books...to make them better citizens and scholars, as well as increasing my knowledge of books and authors. Helen was inspired by Guerrier's desire to impart her knowledge of art and literature to the young women of the North End, taking an avid interest in Guerrier's work, and using her connections to generate funding, and attract speakers to

3540-445: Was described as a gentle girl, extremely fond of animals, who died of typhoid fever, leaving behind a fiancée, Samuel Bowles; her only brother, Thomas Mott Osborne (1859–1926), inherited his father's business, and became a stalwart advocate of prison reform. Their father, Munson Osborne, was a farmer's son from Rye, New York . His ancestors were once prosperous landowners, but they became impoverished, having lost their fortune in

3600-543: Was employed as a corporate lawyer . In 1900, he disbanded his law firm and accepted a position at Lee, Higginson & Co. , an investment bank. James proved to be an astute businessman, quickly achieving the position of senior partner at Lee, Higginson & Co., and accumulating a vast personal fortune. Though he was employed by one of America's most conservative banks, James remained politically moderate and socially progressive, positions that set him at odds with other members of his social milieu . The Storrows longed for

#159840