Rose Morgan French (June 15, 1859 – January 9, 1929) was an American suffragist, temperance and peace activist. She represented California suffragists as a delegate to the International Congress of Women, when it met in The Hague in 1915, and in Zürich in 1919.

Rose Morgan French
An older white woman with white hair, wearing a cap with a plume, and a blouse with a lace collar
Rose Morgan French, from her 1919 passport application
BornJune 15, 1859
Oswego, New York
DiedJanuary 9, 1929 (aged 69)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation(s)Suffragist, peace activist

Early life

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Rose E. Morgan was born in Oswego, New York.[1]

Career

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French was President of the Women's Federation of Public Good in San Francisco. She was a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), and the California Equal Suffrage Association. She was a member of the board of directors of the California Girls' Training Home, volunteered as a "special police officer",[2] and advocated for prisoners' rights.[3] "We have the brotherhood of man," she said in a 1911 speech, adding that "what we need sadly is the sisterhood of woman."[1] After California women won the right to vote, she traveled to other states campaigning for women's suffrage.[4][5]

She was a delegate to the International Congress of Women at its 1915 meeting in the Hague,[6][7][8] and at its 1919 meeting in Zürich.[9][10] She corresponded with Jane Addams[9] and was close to Hungarian feminist Rosika Schwimmer.[11][12]

Personal life

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Morgan married English-born ophthalmologist Hayes Clifton French in 1878. They had a son who died young, and two daughters, Victoria and Davida.[13][14] Her husband died in 1902,[15] and she died in 1929, at the age of 69, from injuries sustained in a car accident in Los Angeles.[16][17]

References

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  1. ^ a b Chavez, Kenya. "Biography of Rose Morgan French (1859-1929)" Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920, Alexander Street Documents.
  2. ^ "Mrs. Rose Morgan French of U.S.A., First Special Police Officer in San Francisco, California" International Woman Suffrage News (December 1918): 28-29.
  3. ^ Morgan, Angela (May 22, 1915). "The Women's Congress at The Hague". The Christian Work. 98 (2316): 662. ISBN 0691016755.
  4. ^ Finnegan, Margaret Mary (1999). Selling Suffrage: Consumer Culture & Votes for Women. Columbia University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-231-10738-9.
  5. ^ McIntosh, George A. (August 10, 1914). "Cleveland Letter". Herald and Presbyter: 12.
  6. ^ "American Delegation to International Congress of Women, The Hague (The Netherlands), 1915". Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  7. ^ "American Delegation to Women's Peace Congress at The Hague". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 17, 1915. p. 26. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Brooklyn Newsstand.
  8. ^ "War Notes Struck at Peace Conference" (PDF). Daily Oregonian. May 1, 1915. p. 1. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "French, Rose Morgan (1859-1929)". Jane Addams Digital Edition. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  10. ^ "Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Photograph Exhibit, 2nd International WILPF Congress, Zurich 1919". Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  11. ^ Rupp, Leila J. (1997-11-30). Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement. Princeton University Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-691-01675-7.
  12. ^ Taylor, Verta; Rupp, Leila (2002-06-01). "Loving Internationalism: The Emotion Culture of Transnational Women's Organizations, 1888-1945". Mobilization: An International Quarterly. 7 (2): 141–158. doi:10.17813/maiq.7.2.fw3t5032xkq5l62h. ISSN 1086-671X.
  13. ^ "Cal. Woman Gets Medal from Belgium's Queen". San Francisco Call and Post. July 9, 1919. p. 18. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  14. ^ "Guide to the Davida Catherine French Papers". Stanford University Libraries. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  15. ^ "Hayes Clifton French, M.D." The Pacific Coast Journal of Homeopathy. 10: 135–136. May 1902.
  16. ^ "Early Settler of Greenfield Dies". King City Rustler. February 8, 1929. p. 7. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  17. ^ "Welfare Worker, Known Here, Dies". Woodland Daily Democrat. January 12, 1929. p. 3. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
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