Clara B. Spence (1859–1923) was an American educator, women's and civil rights advocate, adoption pioneer and civic leader.

Background and career

Born in Albany, New York, in 1859 Spence came from a middle-class family. She got a good education and a degree from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in Oratory 1879. She studied

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

and came back to New York City to work as an actor in the Madison Square Theatre. However, when her mother died in 1883, Spence changed her focus from acting to education. She founded the

Spence School The Spence School is an American all-girls private school in New York City, founded in 1892 by Clara B. Spence. Spence has about 740 students, with grades K-4 representing the Lower School, 5-8 representing the Middle School, and 9-12 represe ...

for girls in East 91st Street in New York City, where she served as Headmistress for 31 years. In 1892 this included a nursery for abandoned babies. She became known as an innovative educator and was on many boards in the city including the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

, Barnard College, the Oratorio Society and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

. One of the teachers she hired for the school was

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gave lectures as did

Helen Keller Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when ...

, with

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. One of the Alumni,

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, was a close friend and returned to give talks at the school. Other speakers included

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

and

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Personal life

As an educated woman of her day it was not entirely uncommon for her not to marry. In the last two decades of the 19th century 50% of college educated women in the United States did not marry. In fact she found a like-minded woman with whom she shared the rest of her life. Together they adopted children, making them one of the first same sex adoption families. Her partner was Charlotte S. Baker and together they ran the school that Spence founded in 1892, The Spence School. In winter they lived with their children in an apartment at the school and in summer they moved to ''The Willows'' in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. The children were adopted through an adoption agency that Spence founded from the nursery that started the school, now called Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children. She pioneered the idea of bringing children from other countries, in this case Great Britain, to the United States for adoption. Her own children were adopted in 1909, 1911, 1914 and 1915. Each of the two women adopted 2 children, a boy and a girl each. This personal investment in adoption paved the way for the modern idea of the children being part of the family and not cheap labour to be used. The women were supporters of the suffrage movement. Spence marched with

Harriot Stanton Blatch Harriot Eaton Blatch ( Stanton; January 20, 1856 – November 20, 1940) was an American writer and suffragist. She was the daughter of pioneering women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Biography Harriot Eaton Stanton was born, the sixt ...

in the Fifth Avenue march for equality in 1913. Spence died in the summer of 1923. Her funeral was on 22 November 1923.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Clara 1859 births 1923 deaths Philanthropists from New York (state) American businesspeople Boston University alumni Alumni of the University of London Suffragists from New York City Educators from New York City American women educators