Alice Bradford Wiles (February 16, 1853 – February 20, 1929) was an American clubwoman based in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. She was active at the national level with the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

and at the state level as president of the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs.

Early life and education

Alice Bradford was born in

Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for ne ...

, the daughter of Joseph Russell Bradford and Sarah Jane Toppan Bradford. She attended Mount Holyoke Seminary and joined the first class of women admitted to

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, in 1872. She graduated in 1875."Mrs. Alice Bradford Wiles"
''Campbell's Illustrated Weekly'' 3(1893): 306.

Career

In 1891, Alice Bradford Wiles was appointed to Illinois Woman's Exposition Board, and elected First Vice President of the board, to represent the state's women in planning the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago. She chaired the committee on manufactures, inventions, and designs, which meant gathering Illinois women's handmade goods for display at the exposition. She was founder of the Freeport Woman's Club, and was elected president of the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs in 1897. She was also national president of the United States Daughters of 1812, from 1915 to 1919, and was briefly on the executive committee of the Illinois Society for Child Study in 1897. She joined the

in 1893. In 1899, she was head of Chicago's large chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She remained active in the DAR into the 1920s, when she chaired the organization's national Committee on Legislation in the U. S. Congress. In 1925, she was elected "Honorary State Regent of Illinois for Life." She was at the center of a controversy in Chicago club circles in 1902, when she was found to be the author of an anonymous letter charging another woman's club leader with unfair business dealings. The controversy continued into 1904. In 1905, she gave a speech defending the woman's club movement against

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

's dismissive comments.

Personal life

Alice Bradford married fellow Cornell graduate and patent lawyer Robert Hall Wiles in 1876. They lived in

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the largest city in Stephenson County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is k ...

, and had two children, Edith and Russell. Their son Russell Wiles became a patent lawyer, and named his own daughter Alice Bradford Wiles. She was widowed in 1907. Alice Bradford Wiles died in 1929, aged 76 years.Obituaries, ''Cornell Alumni News'' (June 20, 1929): 450.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiles, Alice 1853 births 1929 deaths Cornell University alumni Clubwomen