Severance, Caroline M. Seymour (Caroline Maria Seymour), 1820-1914

Caroline Maria Seymour Severance, suffragist, reformer, and social activist, was born in Canadaigua, New York, in January 1820. In 1840 she married Theodoric Severance. The Severances first lived in Cleveland, Ohio, but moved to Boston in 1855. In 1868, Caroline Severance founded the New England Women's Club, the first women's club in the United States earning her the name "Mother of Clubs." The Severances moved to Los Angeles in 1875 where she continued her various reform work including Unitarianism, the development of kindergarten programs, socialism, suffrage, women's clubs, and women's rights. In 1911, when women won the right to vote in California, Caroline Severance was reportedly the first woman to register to vote. She died in Los Angeles in 1914 at the age of 94.

Woman's club leader; Women's rights activist; Abolitionist.

Born Caroline Maria Seymour, Canandaigua, NY, 1820; graduated from Miss Record's Female Seminary, 1835 and served on the faculty of Auburn Female Seminary; married Theodore C. Severance, 1840; daughter Julia Severance (Burrage). Resided in Cleveland where Caroline Severance lectured and wrote on women's rights and was active in abolitionist movement; moved to Boston area, 1855, where she served on board of New England Hospital for Women and Children; co-founded New England Woman's Club, 1868; and organized American Association for the Advancement of Women. Moved to Los Angeles, 1875, where she organized the L.A. Women's Club, 1878. She died in 1914.

Biography

Caroline Maria Seymour Severance, suffragist, reformer, and social activist, was born in Canandaigua, New York in January 1820. She graduated from the Female Seminary of Geneva, New York, in 1835, and in 1840, she married Theodoric Severance; they had five children, Orson Seymour (born and died in 1841), James Seymour (1842-1936), Julia Long Burrage (born in 1844), Mark Sibley (1846-1931), and Pierre Clarke (1849-1890). The Severances spent their first fifteen years together in Cleveland, Ohio, but moved to Boston in 1855 when Theodoric accepted a position with the North Bank of Boston. At the outbreak of the Civil War the Severances moved to Port Royal, South Carolina, where Theodoric was Collector of Customs. Caroline Severance, who was actively involved in the abolitionist movement before and during the war, became involved in several reform movements and was a member of the boards of the Sanitary Commission, the Freedom Bureau, and the New England Hospital for Women and Children. She also became a supporter of the suffrage movement and in 1866 helped organize the Equal Rights Association with Susan B. Anthony. In 1868, Caroline Severance founded the New England Women's Club, the first women's club in the United States; although this fact would later be disputed, she is always referred to as the "Mother of Clubs." She also helped found the American Woman Suffrage Association with Lucy Stone in 1869.

In 1875 the Severances moved to Los Angeles and established themselves at their home "El Nido" on West Adams Boulevard. While in Los Angeles, Caroline Severance continued her reform work. She founded the Los Angeles Women's Club, the Orphan's Home Society, the first Unitarian congregation in Los Angeles, and the Friday Morning Club; she also helped to develop the first kindergarten in Los Angeles as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1904 she became the honorary president of the Los Angeles Political Equality League. In 1911, when women won the right to vote in California, Caroline Severance was reportedly the first woman to register to vote. She died in Los Angeles in November 1914 at the age of 94.