Caroline Bartlett Crane (August 17, 1858 – March 24, 1935) was an American Unitarian minister, suffragist, civic reformer, educator and journalist. She was known as "America's housekeeper" for her efforts to improve urban

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation syste ...

.Renee Zimelis Ruchotzke
Caroline Bartlett Crane
, ''Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography'', an on-line resource of the Unitarian Universalist History & Heritage Society.

Family and education

Caroline Julia Bartlett was born in

Hudson, Wisconsin Hudson is a city in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, its population was 12,719. It is part of the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The village of North Hudson is direct ...

, the daughter of Lorenzo Dow Barlett and Julia A. (Brown) Bartlett. She studied at Carthage College, graduating in 1879. In 1896, she married Augustus Warren Crane, a doctor and pioneer of X-ray research.

Career

After being a teacher for four years, Crane turned to journalism in 1884, working for three years at the Minneapolis ''Tribune'' and later as city editor for the Oshkosh ''Daily Morning Times''. In 1889 she was ordained and became pastor of a Unitarian church in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

. After three years, her success in that post led to her accepting the pastorship of a larger Unitarian church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In the summer of 1891 she visited

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where she preached in numerous churches, met with theologian

James Martineau James Martineau (; 21 April 1805 – 11 January 1900) was a British religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism. For 45 years he was Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Political Economy in Manchester New College ( ...

, and investigated the slum work of the Salvation Army. On her return to Kalamazoo, she renamed her church the People's Church and moved it into a new building designed to offer a wide range of community amenities. In 1898, after illness and differences with the board, she resigned her ministry. Caroline Bartlett Crane

Turning to

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

and

reform, Crane successfully campaigned for meat inspection ordinances after discovering unsanitary conditions in local slaughterhouses. She founded the Women's Civic Improvement League in 1903-4, with a Charity Organizations Board as a referral agency for charity cases. She wrote sanitary surveys for other cities as a professional consultant, and by 1917 had inspected sixty-two cities in fourteen states. She died in Kalamazoo aged 76, and her ashes were buried in Mountain Home Cemetery in Kalamazoo.

Selected works

* ''General sanitary survey of Erie, Pennsylvania'', 1910 * ''Report on a campaign to awaken public interest in sanitary and sociologic problems in the State of Minnesota'', 1911 * ''A sanitary survey of Saginaw, Michigan'', 1911 * ''Business versus the home'', 1913 * ''Everyman's house'', 1925

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Caroline Bartlett 1858 births 1935 deaths American suffragists American Unitarian clergy Women Christian clergy People in public health Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century