Lolita Adela Coffin Van Rensselaer (November 1, 1875 – January 10, 1947) was an American clubwoman and activist. Among her national leadership roles, she was vice-chair of the National League for Women's Service during World War I, and worked with Pauline Sabin on the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR), an anti-temperance women's organization formed in 1932.
Lolita Coffin Van Rensselaer | |
|---|---|
 Lolita Coffin Van Rensselaer in the 1910s | |
| Born | Lolita Adela Coffin November 1, 1875 Irvington, New York |
| Died | January 10, 1947 New York City |
| Occupation(s) | Clubwoman, activist |
| Spouse | Lyndsay Van Rensselaer |
Early life and education
editCoffin was born in Irvington, New York, the daughter of Joseph Wilbur Coffin and Lolita Frances Taft Coffin.[citation needed]
Career
editDuring World War I, Van Rensselaer was the vice chair of the National League for Women's Service.[1][2] "Mrs. Van Rensselaer spoke clearly and distinctly and really has a military bearing," reported a Tennessee newspaper in 1917.[3] She toured England and France in 1919, speaking with refugees and women war workers.[4] "None of us wish another conflict in which our very hearts were involved, as well as the safety of this country," she told a San Francisco audience in 1927. "But it is my opinion that women will always rise to the needs of this nation and of the American people."[5]
After the war, Van Renssellaer was executive secretary of the Women's Department of the National Civic Federation of New York.[6][7] She was a member of the General Committee on the Limitation of Armament when it formed in 1921.[8]
In 1926 Van Rensselaer was on the campaign committee to re-elect James W. Wadsworth Jr. to the Senate.[9] She was a prominent member of the anti-temperance Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR).[10] and a member of the board of governors of the Women's National Republican Club.[11] In 1930 she addressed the School of Politics of the Women's National Republican Club, saying, "I think that we have assumed a semi-jocular attitude toward Congress that is ill-justified."[12]
Publications
editPersonal life
editCoffin married Lyndsay Van Rensselaer in 1897. They had a daughter, Catharine. Her husband died in 1928, and she died in 1947, at the age of 71, in New York City.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b van Rensselaer, Mrs. Coffin (1918). "The National League for Woman's Service". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 79: 275–282. doi:10.1177/000271621807900135. ISSN 0002-7162. JSTOR 1013993. S2CID 220719911.
- ^ "Woman's Service in War; Address by Mrs. Coffin Van Rensselaer Enjoyed". The Bennington Evening Banner. 1917-05-18. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-12-24 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mrs. Montague Elected President of New League". The Chattanooga News. 1917-03-27. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-12-24 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "France Needs First Aid in Reconstruction; Women's Faith Amidst War's Anguish Sublime". The Buffalo News. 1919-02-08. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-12-24 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Service League Officer Honored". The San Francisco Examiner. 1927-08-02. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-12-24 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ National Industrial Conference Board (1924). Special Report. p. 64.
- ^ "Police Vice Squad Indorsed by Women". The New York Times. February 20, 1920. p. 17.
- ^ "General Committee on the Limitation of Armament Declaration and Membership, November 1921". Jane Addams Digital Edition. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- ^ "Women to Help Reelect U. S. Senator Wadsworth". Scarsdale Inquirer. September 3, 1926. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Hudson River Valley Heritage.
- ^ "Women Social Leaders Meet to Fight Drys". Daily News. 1932-04-13. p. 134. Retrieved 2023-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Mrs. Lolita C. Van Rensselaer". The York Dispatch. 1947-01-13. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-12-24 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Woman Praises Congress; Mrs. Coffin Van Rensselaer Says Its Members Work Hard". The New York Times. 1930-01-21. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- ^ Van Rensselaer, Lolita Coffin (January 1917). "Prison Reform of the Woman's Department National Civic Federation". Everywoman. 11 (9): 3 – via Internet Archive.