Rena Michaels Atchison (1857 – 29 October 1933) was an American

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

and co-founder of

Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority with 175 active chapters and over 270,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, ...

. She was Dean of Women and Professor of French Literature at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Career

Atchison was born in

Lysander, New York Lysander is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 23,074. The town was named after Lysander, a Spartan military leader, by a clerk interested in the classics. Lying to the northwest of Syr ...

. She was educated at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

and graduated from

Albion College Albion College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students as of Fall 2021 ...

. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in 1874, master’s degree in 1879 and a PhD in 1880. Atchison was a co-founder and first president of

in 1892. Atchison was a Professor of French and Spanish at

DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...

and a teacher of romantic languages at

Upper Iowa University Upper Iowa University (UIU) is a private university in Fayette, Iowa, United States. It enrolls around 3,000 students and offers distance education programs that include centers in the U.S., an online program, an independent study program, an ...

. She was Professor of French Literature from 1883 to 1893 and Dean of Women at

from 1886 to 1891. She wrote for the ''

Chicago Evening Post The ''Chicago Evening Post'' was a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, from March 1, 1886, until October 29, 1932, when it was absorbed by the ''Chicago Daily News''. The newspaper was founded as a penny paper during the technologica ...

''. Atchison married Reverend Wilbur Fisk Atchison in 1893, a pastor of the Hyde Park Methodist Church. They resided at

Hyde Park, Chicago Hyde Park is a neighborhood on the South Side, Chicago, South Side of Chicago, Illinois, located on and near the shore of Lake Michigan south of Chicago Loop, the Loop. It is one of the city's 77 community areas of Chicago, community areas. ...

before moving to Morgan Park, Illinois. Atchison was an active member of the

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

and was secretary of Illinois State Equal Suffrage Association.

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Immigration

Atchison was concerned about

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

to the United States and authored ''Un-American Immigration: Its Present Effects and Future Perils'' in 1894. The book was based on the

1890 United States census The 1890 United States census was taken beginning June 2, 1890. The census determined the resident population of the United States to be 62,979,766, an increase of 25.5 percent over the 50,189,209 persons enumerated during the 1880 United States ...

. Atchison supported immigration from Europeans of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

decent up until the 1860s, crediting them with representing the "best artisanship" and "progressive thought" who had assimilated into American institutions but opposed the recent immigration of Eastern Europeans and Russians for being illiterate, unskilled laborers or without occupation.

Vegetarianism

Atchison was an activist for vegetarianism and was elected president of the Chicago Vegetarian Society in December 1897. In the early 1900s she was editor of the '' The Vegetarian Magazine''.

Death

Atchison died on 29 October 1933 at her home in

Wrightwood, Chicago Wrightwood is a neighborhood on the far southwest side of 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 2,746,3 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atchison, Rena M. 1857 births 1933 deaths Albion College alumni Alpha Phi founders American suffragists American vegetarianism activists Anti-immigration activists DePauw University faculty Northwestern University faculty Syracuse University alumni Upper Iowa University faculty Woman's Christian Temperance Union people