1867 - 1961
Overview:
Emily Balch has to have been one of the most revolutionary women of the twentieth century. She actively fought for women’s rights, children’s labour right’s, immigrant problems, peace during World War 2, and racial inequality, while being a perfect role model for her students which she worked so hard for. She continued to rally against war well into her nineties, her courage and enthusiasm being handed down, generation to generation through the many people she positively influenced during her life.
Country:
United States of America
Type
of hero: Economic and Social Rights
Attributes:
Pacifist, Human Rights
Biography:
Emily Balch was born in Massachusetts, the daughter of a successful lawyer. She was a member of the first class to graduate from Bryn Mawr College in 1889.
She studied economics and social sciences in Paris between 1890 and 91. She headed the sociology department at Wellesley College in 1913 having taught there since 1896.
She was an outstanding teacher who believed in a practical approach to any investigation. She worked in a Boston social centre to get first hand experience and introduced the study of immigrant struggles to her courses. Her compassion and understanding of the underprivileged was an inspiration to her students. It also led to her practical involvement in many areas of need. As a founder of the Women’s Trade Union, she chaired the Massachusetts’s minimum wage committee. Her work in Boston was influenced by Jane Addams (put a link here) She also participated in movements for women’s right to vote, racial equality and the control of child labour.
This combination of practical work to help overcome the problems of poverty that she encountered, together with the recognition that ultimately the bigger problems would not be solved until others took on some of the work as well led to the desire to pass these ideas on through education.
In 1915, she became one of the founders of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom - WILPF (originally called the Women's International Committee for Permanent Peace). She visited Russia and Scandinavia in the process of pushing the message of peace. Her activism cost her the job at Wellesley but she then threw her energies into more radical pursuits.
From 1919 to 1922 and from 1934 to 1935, she was Secretary General for the international section of WILPF.
In World War 2, despite her pacifist alliances with organisations such as the Quakers, her outrage at the horrors of Nazism led her to actively support the Allies in the war effort. Following the war she aided in the recovery process through drafting proposals for a constructive international settlement.
Even after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946, she continued on to support the cause of peace well into her nineties. Showing us not only that peace is a heroic cause, but also, age is no barrier when helping worthy causes.
Citations
& References:
Links:
http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1946/balch-bio.html
http://www.nobel.se/laureates/peace-1946-press.html
References
Uglow, J., (Ed) 1999 The Macmillan Dictionary of Women’s Biography London, Macmillan (p. 45)
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