Elisabeth Coit Gilman (December 25, 1867 – December 14, 1950) was an American socialist and

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

advocate.

Early life

Elisabeth Coit Gilman was born in New Haven, Connecticut on December 25, 1867 to Daniel Coit Gilman and Mary Ketcham Gilman. Elisabeth was the second child, and had an older sister named Alice. Their mother, Mary, died in 1869 and, as a result, were cared for by Daniel's sister Louise. At the age of seven, Elisabeth's father took the post as the first president of Johns Hopkins University and the family moved to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Maryland. She was cared for by a governess until her father remarried. In 1877, Daniel married Elisabeth Dwight Woolsey (1838–1910) of the New England Dwight family, with whom Elisabeth Gilman developed a close relationship. Gilman attended Miss Hall's School until age eleven, when due to eye trouble, she was tutored by her governess at home. When her eyesight improved, Elisabeth attended the Springside School in Philadelphia at age seventeen. It was planned that she would attend Bryn Mawr College.

Political life

Instead of attending Bryn Mawr, Gilman traveled to France as a representative of the National Committee on Surgical Dressings. While in France, she also worked for the YMCA. It was at this time that she was introduced to the concepts of Socialism. When Gilman returned to the United States at the age of twenty, she entered into social work at the request of her father. Eventually, in 1921, she earned her degree from Johns Hopkins University. Gilman officially joined the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

on March 1, 1929. She ran for Governor of Maryland in 1930 when she was 62. After running for Governor, she traveled to Russia in 1931 to study the Soviet system. She returned and ran for the United States Senate in 1934 and 1938, Mayor of Baltimore in 1935, and Sheriff of Baltimore in 1942.

Platform

Gilman campaigned for many causes; however, she was mainly involved in workers' rights,

, and racial equality. In 1921, Elisabeth helped to form The Maryland Civil Liberties Committee; this committee was a precursor to the Maryland Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1931, the ACLU would officially establish an affiliate in the state of Maryland; the meeting was held in Gilman's home. Gilman also hosted the first public interracial dinner in Baltimore at her home in 1928 when local hotels refused to allow the dinner on their properties. Gilman was also a core member of the National Mooney-Billings Committee, which was "organized to help secure the pardon of Thomas J. Mooney and

Warren K. Billings Warren Knox Billings (July 4, 1893 – September 4, 1972) was a labor leader and political activist, who was convicted with Thomas Mooney of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It is believed that the two were wrongly convicted of ...

, serving life sentences in California prisons".

Death

Elisabeth Gilman died on December 14, 1950 at the age of 82. She is buried at

Druid Ridge Cemetery Druid Ridge Cemetery is located in Pikesville, Maryland, just outside the city of Baltimore. Among its monuments and graves are several noted sculptures by Hans Schuler and the final resting places of: *Felix Agnus, American Civil War general a ...

Pikesville, Maryland Pikesville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Pikesville is just northwest of the Baltimore city limits. It is the northwestern suburb closest to Baltimore. The population was 30,764 at the 2010 cens ...

References

External links

* http://www.prattlibrary.org/locations/maryland/index.aspx * http://www.aclu-md.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilman, Elisabeth 1867 births 1950 deaths Gilman family of New Hampshire People from New Haven, Connecticut Politicians from Baltimore Socialist Party of America politicians from Maryland American civil rights activists Burials at Druid Ridge Cemetery