Julia Scott Vrooman (October 4, 1876 – May 30, 1981) was an American writer, philanthropist, and socialite.

Early life

Julia Scott was born in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

, the daughter of Matthew T. Scott and Julia Green Scott. Her parents were socially prominent and wealthy; they owned the

Scott–Vrooman House The Scott–Vrooman House is a historic home in Bloomington, Illinois. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It was the site of speeches from Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Ownership History The ...

. Her mother was national president of 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 ...

(DAR). Vice-president

Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Grover Cleveland. A member of the History of the Demo ...

was her uncle, married to Julia Green Scott's sister

Letitia Letitia is a feminine given name, of Latin origin meaning "joy, gladness". The name Letitia has many variants, including but not limited to: Lætitia from lætus (Latin), Letja (Dutch), Letizia (Italian), Leticia (Spanish), Letisya (Turkish) and ...

. She attended Chestnut Hill Boarding School, a girls' school near Philadelphia.

Career

Vrooman and her husband were co-authors of ''The Lure and Lore of Travel'' (1914), and she wrote a political novel, ''The High Road to Honor'' (1924). She also wrote about travel in ''

Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associat ...

'' in 1906, '' The Arena'' in 1908, ''La Follette's Magazine'' in 1911, and ''The Twentieth Century Magazine'' in 1912. Vrooman was a political hostess in Washington, D.C. 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 ...

, she accompanied her husband, a federal agriculture official, on a trip to Europe for coordinating food relief; she also worked with the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

serving American troops at the front. She formed a jazz band of musical soldiers, and often served cocoa to soldiers from Illinois in canteens. "I have no children, I am in perfect health," she explained of her efforts. "I am fortunate enough to be able to speak both French and Italian. If, instead of looking for an opportunity to get into war work, I were looking for an excuse to avoid it, I could not find one." For her contributions to troop morale, she was made an honorary member of the

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States Armed Forces, United States war veterans who fought in wars, Military campaign, campaig ...

post in Bloomington. Vrooman opened her home for a makeshift hospital during the

1918 influenza pandemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...

. She lectured on, and supported the founding of, the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

. She organized a 1922 carnival to raise funds for Quaker war relief in Russia. She was active in the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she opened a floor of her large home for soldiers' apartments. In addition to her literary and philanthropic pursuits, Vrooman was known for her whole wheat bread. She sold loaves at fundraising events. Poet

Vachel Lindsay Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (; November 10, 1879 – December 5, 1931) was an American poet. He is considered a founder of modern ''singing poetry,'' as he referred to it, in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted. Early years Lindsay was born ...

promised to write a sonnet to her bread, and

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

mentioned the bread in a newspaper column.

Personal life

Julia Scott married

Carl Schurz Vrooman Carl Schurz Vrooman (October 25, 1872 – April 8, 1966) was the Assistant United States Secretary of Agriculture under Woodrow Wilson. He started the victory garden campaign during World War I. Vroomanwas born in Macon, Missouri, to Judge Hira ...

in 1896. They were married for 69 years; Carl Vrooman died in 1966, and Julia Scott Vrooman died at home in 1981, aged 104 years. Her family's mansion in

Chenoa María Laura Corradini Falomir (born June 25, 1975), known professionally as Chenoa, is an Argentine-Spanish music artist who rose to fame as a contestant on reality television singing competition '' Operación Triunfo''. Her music style could b ...

was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983. Her Bloomington mansion has been a bed-and-breakfast inn in recent years.Vrooman Mansion, Theora Stark Collection
McLean County Museum of HIstory.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrooman, Julia Scott 1876 births 1981 deaths Writers from Bloomington, Illinois American women in World War I American women centenarians 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers