Alice Birney

Alice McLellan Birney (October 19, 1858 – December 20, 1907) was an American educator who co-founded the National Parent-Teacher Association in 1897.

Alice McLellan Birney
Born
Alice Josephine McLellan

(1858-10-19)October 19, 1858
Marietta, Georgia
DiedDecember 20, 1907(1907-12-20) (aged 49)
Chevy Chase, Maryland
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMount Holyoke Seminary
OccupationEducator

Early life and education

Alice Josephine McLellan was born in Marietta, Georgia, the daughter of Leander and Harriet Tatem McLellan. She finished high school at age 15. After briefly attending Mount Holyoke College, she worked as a schoolteacher, an advertiser, and a social worker.[1]

Career

She and Phoebe Hearst founded the National Congress of Mothers, later known as the Parent-Teacher Association, with the first meeting held in Washington, D. C. in 1897.[2][3] Birney served as president for its first five years. Birney also wrote widely on the topic of child-rearing, including the 1905 book Childhood, a compilation of her articles written for The Delineator and other publications.[4][5] Due to her declining health, Birney was replaced by Hannah Kent Schoff in 1902 as president of the National Congress of Mothers.[6]

Personal life and legacy

After her first husband, lawyer Alonzo J. White Jr., died in 1880, she married Theodore Weld Birney (a grandson of James G. Birney) in 1892.[4] She had three daughters, Alonsita Eliza White (b. 1881), Catherine Weld Birney (b. 1893), and Lillian Harriet Birney (b. 1895). "Weld" is a reference to Theodore Dwight Weld. She was again widowed in 1897. Birney died of cancer at Chevy Chase, Maryland, in 1907, age 49; her remains were buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington D.C.[7]

Because of her efforts, a number of elementary and middle schools throughout the United States have been named in her honor, including Alice M. Birney Elementary School in Long Beach, California,[8] Alice M. Birney Elementary School in Pico Rivera, California,[9] Alice Birney Elementary[10] in San Diego, California, Alice M. Birney Middle School (defunct)[11] in Southfield, Michigan, Alice Birney Waldorf Elementary School (defunct), Sacramento, California,[12] and Alice Birney Middle School (defunct) in North Charleston, South Carolina[13]

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References
  1. "Alice J. McLellan Birney," Mount Holyoke College website.
  2. "PTA HONORS A FOUNDER: Memorial Held at Marietta, Ga., for Alice Birney". New York Times: 28. 1947-02-18. ProQuest 107820327.
  3. "Birney, Alice McLellan (1858–1907)." Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Ed. Anne Commire. Vol. 2. Detroit: Yorkin Publications, 2000. 557. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 27 June 2013.
  4. "Alice Josephine McLellan Birney". Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  5. Alice McLellan Birney, Childhood (F. A. Stokes Company 1905).
  6. Ladd-Todd, Molly (1994). Mother-work: Women, Child Welfare, and the State, 1890-1930. University of Illinois Press. p. 48–49. ISBN 9780252064821. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  7. Elvena B. Tillman, "Alice Josephine McLellan Birney," in Edward T. James, Janet Wilson James, and Paul S. Boyer, eds., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Harvard University Press 1971): 147-148. ISBN 0674627342
  8. Alice M. Birney Elementary School website.
  9. Beth Uyehara, "Old Boat Finds Friendly Berth in Birney Schoolyard" Los Angeles Times (March 19, 1987).
  11. Alice Birney in Eureka Ca Alice M. Birney Middle School website K-8
  13. Alice Birney Middle School in North Charleston, Charleston County, SC https://projects.propublica.org/schools/schools/450144001211
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