Hannah Johnston Bailey | |
|---|---|
 Hannah J. Bailey, "A Woman of the Century", from an 1897 publication. | |
| Born | Hannah Clark Johnston (1839-07-05)July 5, 1839 Cornwall, New York |
| Died | October 23, 1923(1923-10-23) (aged 84) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Political party | Women's Christian Temperance Union Woman's Peace Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Hannah Johnston Bailey (July 5, 1839 – October 23, 1923) was an AmericanQuaker teacher, pacifist, activist, and advocate for peace, temperance, and women's suffrage.
Hannah Clark Johnston was born inCornwall, New York, in theHudson Valley, the daughter of David Johnston and Letitia Clark Johnston. Her parents were Quakers; her father was a tanner and a farmer. She was the eldest of eleven children.[1] Although they were Quakers, two of her younger brothers fought in theAmerican Civil War, and one died, cementing for Hannah Johnston a commitment to peace.[2]
Bailey taught school inPlattekill, New York from 1858 to 1867. She ran her late husband's businesses, a factory producing oilcloth and a carpet store, from 1882 until 1889, and 1891, respectively.[3]
In 1883, she joined theWomen's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), and worked withLillian M. N. Stevens to establish a reformatory for women in Maine. She represented Maine at theNational Conference of Charities and Correction. In 1887, she became head of the WCTU's new Department of Peace and Arbitration, and through the organization worked to oppose war and violence in all forms, includingcapital punishment,lynching,prizefighting, military conscription, even toy soldiers and military drills in schools. In 1898 she was elected president of theWoman's Temperance Publishing Association, the publishing arm of the WCTU, succeedingMatilda Carse.[4] She also served as business manager.[5]
She was editor and publisher of two WCTU peace periodicals,Pacific Banner andAcorn (intended for young readers), from her home inWinthrop, Maine. She retired from her WCTU posts in 1916, asWorld War I began and the WCTU endorsed American involvement.[6]
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From 1891 to 1899, she was president of the Maine Woman Suffrage Association, and from 1895 to 1899 she served as treasurer of theNational Council of Women. She was also a member of theNational American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA).[7] In 1915 she joined theWoman's Peace Party, and was a member of theWomen's International League for Peace and Freedom at the end of her life.[6]
Her many other reform interests included the influence of militarism on children, reform of women's prisons, the abolition of capital punishment, and women's missionary work. Bailey also served as an officer of the Universal Peace Union.[7]
Bailey wrote a biography of her late husband,Reminiscences of a Christian Life (1885).[8]
Hannah Clark Johnson married Moses Bailey in 1868, as his second wife. They had one child, Moses Melvin Bailey, born in 1869. She was widowed when her husband died in 1882, after a long illness. She died inPortland, Maine in 1923, aged 84.[9] She is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Winthrop, Maine.
Her papers are archived in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection.[7]
Works related toWoman of the Century/Hannah J. Bailey at Wikisource| International | |
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