Alice Barbee Castleman ( Barbee; December 5, 1843 – February 5, 1926) was an American social leader, philanthropist, and suffragist. She was known throughout the country for her activities in political and civic endeavors.

Early life and education

Alice Osmond Barbee was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, December 5, 1843. She was the daughter of former

Louisville mayor The history of Louisville, Kentucky, United States, as a city is considered to have started on February 13, 1828, the date of the first city charter. From the time of its first organization as a village, on February 7, 1781, until its incorpora ...

John Barbee John Barbee (September 16, 1815 – December 22, 1888) was the tenth mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, from 1855 to 1857, chiefly remembered for his part in the anti-immigrant riots known as "Bloody Monday". Life He was born in Pewee Valley, Ken ...

, and Eliza (Kane) Barbee. Her father and mother were native Kentuckians and were numbered among the early pioneers. She was their oldest daughter. Alice's sister, Lottie, married John Nicholas Galleher, who became the third bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana The Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the eastern part of the state of Louisiana. The see city is New Orleans. History Christ Church, New Orleans, (now the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Louisiana) ...

. She was educated in the

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

Career

Although she was a social leader, she made time for charitable work and was a philanthropist in the broadest sense. Always on the alert to advance the cause of woman, she was progressive, cultured and liberal in her views. She was president of the board of the Louisville Training School for Nurses. She was a prominent member of the Woman's Club, a member of the Woman's Auxiliary of the Board of Missions, Foreign and Domestic, and a member of the National

Board of Lady Managers of the World's Columbian Exposition The Board of Lady Managers of the World's Columbian Exposition was organized November 19, 1890. It oversaw the construction of The Woman's Building (Chicago), The Woman's Building in Chicago and organized the exposition's World's Congress of Repre ...

. She was active in the affairs of the Filson Club of Louisville. Castleman and her husband were early supporters of the

suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

. She was the first vice president of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association in 1910, and 1911. Gen. Castleman supported his wife financially and emotionally in her battle to secure voting rights for all women at a time when it was unpopular, even dangerous, to do so. According to

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National Woma ...

records, Mrs. Castleman was a delegate for the

Kentucky Equal Rights Association Kentucky Equal Rights Association (KERA) was the first permanent statewide women's rights organization in Kentucky. Founded in November 1888, the KERA voted in 1920 to transmute itself into thKentucky League of Women Votersto continue its many and ...

when they were lobbying for the passage of what became known as the "Susan B. Anthony Amendment" during the 65th and 66th sessions of Congress. She was one of 17 women who were elected as delegates to the 1920 Democratic National Convention at

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

when James M. Cox was nominated for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Personal life

She married Gen. John Breckinridge Castleman on November 24, 1868. They had five children, three sons and two daughters: David C. Castleman (1870–1911), Elise Kane. Castleman (1871–1938), Breckenridge Castleman (1874–1912), Kenneth Galleher Castleman (1876–1954), and Alice Barbee Castleman (1877–1949). From 1891 till 1907, she made her home at 1321 South Fourth Street, Louisville. In religion, she was an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

and a member of Christ Church, of Louisville. Alice Barbee Castleman died February 5, 1926, at her winter home in

Eau Gallie, Florida Eau Gallie () is a neighborhood in the city of Melbourne, Florida, located on the city's northern side. It was an independent city in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County from 1860 until 1969. That year residents of Eau Gallie and Melbourne ...

. Burial was at

Cave Hill Cemetery Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buri ...

in Louisville.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castleman, Alice Barbee 1843 births 1926 deaths People from Louisville, Kentucky Social leaders Philanthropists from Kentucky American women philanthropists 19th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American philanthropists Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Suffragists from Kentucky Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century