Jane Hungerford Milbank (April 10, 1871 - March 4, 1931) was an American suffragette who organized the Army of Columbians.

Early life

She was born on April 10, 1871, in

Sparta, Georgia Sparta is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Georgia, Hancock County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city's population was 1,357 at the 2020 census. History Sparta was founded in 1795 in the newly formed Hancock ...

, as Jane Hungerford Henry. She claimed to have posed for artist

John La Farge John La Farge (March 31, 1835 – November 14, 1910) was an American artist whose career spanned illustration, murals, interior design, painting, and popular books on his Asian travels and other art-related topics. La Farge made stained glass ...

as a young woman, and to have been the model for his "Adoration" and "St. John."

Activism

Mrs. Milbank was best known for proposing an "Army of Columbians," a military regiment of women, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, complete with a uniform she designed and wore. She held weekly training sessions for a handful of recruits, with wooden guns. "My only fear is that they will be too savage warriors," she assured doubters. She also suggested that military training might decrease domestic discord. Her program was formalized by 1915 as the International Order of Military Women, with Milbank presiding. She was also an author and poet, using the name "J. Hungerford Milbank" to publish a collection of miscellaneous short works titled ''Florence Gardiner Sings''. She was a member of the Century Theatre Club for more than twenty years.

Personal life

She first married Cedric (or Carl) Augustus Erlund in 1893, and had two sons during their marriage, named Cambridge Erlund (b. 1896) and Charles Hungerford Erlund (Milbank) (b. 1901). She married a second time, to Charles Budd Milbank, in 1904. She was widowed when Mr. Milbank died in 1920, and she died on March 4, 1931, in

Freeport, Long Island Freeport is a village in the town of Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York state, United States. The population was 43,713 at the 2010 census, making it the second largest village in New York by populatio ...

."Necrology: Charles Budd Milbank," in Lewis Effingham de Forest, ed., ''The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New York, Year Book for 1920-1921'' (1921): 166.
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milbank, Jane Hungerford 1871 births 1931 deaths American suffragists American women poets People from Sparta, Georgia Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)