Cotton, Bessie Boies, 1880-1959

YWCA overseas official. Boies began work with the National YWCA in 1910. In 1917, Russian women invited the YWCA to help working women organize themselves for their new role in society. Boies helped set up the first association in Petrograd, then Moscow and other cities. Political upheavals of 1918 led to the evacuation of Americans from Bolshevik-controlled Russia and Boies made her way to northern Russia where she set up box-car canteens for U.S. troops. While in Russia she met Thomas Cotton and married in 1919 (divorced 1938). In 1921, she was appointed foreign staff secretary. After retirement in 1940, she continued to work as YWCA consultant. Her last years were devoted to peace and women's rights with a number of organizations.

From the description of Bessie Boies Cotton Papers, 1881-1983. (Smith College). WorldCat record id: 51882647

...