Alva Erskine Belmont
Alva E. Belmont, photo dated 1911.
Born	Alva Erskine Smith 17 January 1853 Mobile, Alabama
Died	26 January 1933 New York, New York
Burial place	Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Spouse	William Kissam Vanderbilt Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont
Children	Consuelo Vanderbilt William K. The City of New York This article refers to the Woodlawn Cemetery in the New York City borough of The Bronx William Kissam Vanderbilt ( December 12 1849 &ndash July 22 1920) was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont ( November 12, 1858 &ndash June 10 1908) was a wealthy American Socialite and United States Consuelo Balsan (formerly Consuelo Duchess of Marlborough; born Consuelo Vanderbilt) ( March 2, 1877 – December 6, 1964 Vanderbilt II Harold Stirling Vanderbilt
Parents	Murray Forbes Smith Phoebe Desha

Alva Erskine Belmont (January 17, 1853 - January 26, 1933), née Alva Erskine Smith, also called (1875–96) Alva Vanderbilt, was a prominent multi-millionaire American socialite and a major figure in the women's suffrage movement. Events 38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla. 1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca Year 1853 ( MDCCCLIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Events 1340 - King Edward III of England is declared King of France. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Known for having an aristocratic manner that antagonized many people,^[1] she was also was noted for her energy, intelligence, strong opinions, and willingness to challenge convention. ^[2] She was married first to William Kissam Vanderbilt, with whom she had three children, and secondly to Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont. William Kissam Vanderbilt ( December 12 1849 &ndash July 22 1920) was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont ( November 12, 1858 &ndash June 10 1908) was a wealthy American Socialite and United States She died on 26 January 1933 in Paris, France. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

Early life

Alva Smith was born on 17 January 1853 in Mobile, Alabama. Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America. Her parents were the moderately wealthy Murray Forbes Smith, a commission merchant, and Phoebe Desha, daughter of Robert Desha, a former US Representative and General in the War of 1812. In the Antebellum South, most Cotton Planters relied on cotton factors (sometimes also called commission merchants) to sell their Robert Desha was an American politician who represented Tennessee's 5th Congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and the British Empire, particularly Great Britain and her North American colonies ^[3][4]

Alva's childhood home in Mobile, Alabama.

Alva was the youngest of four children, though her two sisters, Alice and Elenor, both died as children before she was born. The only sibling that she ever knew was her older brother, Murray Forbes Smith, Jr. , he died in 1857 and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile. Magnolia Cemetery is a city Cemetery located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. ^[4]

As a child, Alva summered with her parents in Newport, Rhode Island and accompanied them on European vacations. Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about 30 miles (48 km south of Providence Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States In 1857 the Smiths moved to New York City, where they briefly settled in Madison Square. Madison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan Murray Smith later went to Liverpool, England, to conduct his business. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Alva and her mother moved to Paris, where Alva attended a private boarding school in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Neuilly-sur-Seine (nœji syʀ sɛn in French) is a commune bordering the western limit of the city of Paris, France. ^[2]

After the Civil War, the family returned to New York, where Phoebe Smith died in 1869. At a party for one William Henry Vanderbilt's daughters, Alva's childhood best friend, Consuela Yznaga, introduced her to William Kissam Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt. This article is about the railroad magnate For his grandson the governor of Rhode Island see William Henry Vanderbilt III. George Victor Drogo Montagu 8th Duke of Manchester, etc ( London, 17 June 1853 &ndash Tandragee Castle, County Armagh, 18 August William Kissam Vanderbilt ( December 12 1849 &ndash July 22 1920) was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt ( May 27 1794 &ndash January 4 1877) also known by the Sobriquets The Commodore or On 20 April, 1875, he and Alva were married at Calvary Church in New York City. ^[5] As Murray Smith suffered repeated losses in his business dealings, his health began to fail. He died shortly after Alva's marriage. ^[2]

First marriage

Children

Alva and William K. Vanderbilt would have three children. Consuelo was born on 2 March 1877, followed by William Kissam II on 2 March 1878, and Harold Stirling on 6 July 1884. Consuelo Balsan (formerly Consuelo Duchess of Marlborough; born Consuelo Vanderbilt) ( March 2, 1877 – December 6, 1964 William Kissam Vanderbilt II ( March 2 1878 &ndash January 8 1944) was a Motor racing enthusiast and yachtsman and a member Harold Stirling Vanderbilt ( July 6, 1884 &ndash July 4, 1970) was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family Alva would maneuver Consuelo into marrying Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough on 6 November 1895. Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, KG ( 13 November 1871 &ndash 30 June 1934) became the 9th Duke of Marlborough upon The marriage would annulled much later, at the duke's request and Consuelo's assent, on 19 August 1926. The annulment was fully supported by Alva, who testified that she had forced Consuelo into the marriage. ^[6] By this time Consuelo and her mother enjoyed a closer, easier relationship. Consuelo went on to marry Jacques Balsan, a French aeronautics pioneer. William Kissam II would become president of the New York Central Railroad Company on his father's death in 1920. The New York Central Railroad, known simply as the New York Central in its publicity was a Railroad operating in the Northeastern United States. Harold Stirling graduated from Harvard Law School in 1910, then joined his father at the New York Central Railroad Company. Harvard Law School (also known as Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional Graduate schools of Harvard University. He remained the only active representative of the Vanderbilt family in the New York Central Railroad after his brother's death, serving as a director and member of the executive committee until 1954.

Buildings

Alva and William's residence at 660 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

As a young newlywed, Alva worked from 1877 to 1881 with architect Richard Morris Hunt to create a French Renaissance style chateau for her family at 660 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Richard Morris Hunt ( October 31 1827 – July 31, 1895) was a preeminent figure in the history of American Architecture. French Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century The City of New York A contemporary of Alva's was quoted as saying that "she loved nothing better than to be knee deep in mortar. "^[3] In 1878 Hunt began work on their Queen Anne style retreat on Long Island, Idlehour. The Queen Anne Style is a style of architecture, furniture and decoration that reached its greatest popularity in the last quarter of the 19th century manifesting itself in Long Island is an island located in southeastern New York, USA, its western shores directly across from Manhattan, from which the island stretches It would be added to almost continuously until 1889. In 1891, Hunt was again hired to design the Neoclassical style Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island, as Alva's 39th birthday present and summer "cottage" retreat. Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century both as a reaction against the Rococo Marble House is one of the Gilded Age Mansions of Newport Rhode Island, now open to the public as a museum ^[3]

Society

Determined to bring the Vanderbilt family the social status that she felt they deserved, and after being snubbed by Caroline Astor, queen of the "400" elite of New York society, she held a masquerade ball that cost $3 million to open the Fifth Avenue chateau. Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor ( September 22, 1830 &ndash October 30, 1908) was a prominent American Socialite of the last The 400 (later named the Twin Cities 400) was a named passenger train operated by Chicago and North Western between Chicago and This forced Mrs. Astor to come calling, in order to secure an invitation to the ball for her daughter. Unable to get an opera box at the Academy of Music, whose directors were loath to admit members of newly wealthy families into their circle, she was among those people instrumental in founding the Metropolitan Opera Association, based at the Metropolitan Opera House. The Academy of Music was a Theater and Opera house located at East 14th Street and Irving Place in Manhattan, New York City The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. The Metropolitan Opera long outlasted the Academy. Marble House would be built next door to Caroline Astor's much simpler Beechwood estate. The Astors' Beechwood Mansion is a Gilded Age estate located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport Rhode Island. Marble House set the pace for Newport's subsequent transformation from a quiet summer colony of wooden houses to the legendary resort of opulent stone palaces. ^[7]

Second marriage

Belcourt, where Alva and her second husband summered after their marriage in 1896

Alva shocked society in March 1895 when she divorced her husband, at a time when divorce was rare among the elite, and received a large financial settlement said to be in excess of $10 million, in addition to several of the estates. Belcourt Castle is the former summer cottage of Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport Rhode Island. The grounds for divorce were allegations of William's adultery,^[1] though some believed that William hired a woman to pretend to be his mistress so that Alva would divorce him. ^[8]

Alva married Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, a man five years her junior, on 11 January 1896. Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont ( November 12, 1858 &ndash June 10 1908) was a wealthy American Socialite and United States Oliver had been a friend of the Vanderbilts since the late 1880s and had accompanied them on at least one long voyage aboard their yacht the Alva. He was the son of August Belmont, a successful Jewish banker. August Belmont Sr ( December 8 1813 - November 24 1890) was born in Alzey, Hesse, to a Jewish family PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ ^[9] After their marriage Alva began extensive renovations to his sixty-room Newport mansion, Belcourt, and had another mansion, Brookholt, built in Hempstead, Long Island. Belcourt Castle is the former summer cottage of Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport Rhode Island. Hempstead is the name of some places in the State of New York, in the United States of America: Hempstead (town New York (pop Oliver died suddenly in 1908, upon which Alva took on the new cause of the women's suffrage movement after hearing a lecture by Ida Husted Harper. Ida Husted Harper ( February 18 1851 &ndash March 14 1931) was a prominent figure in the United States Women's suffrage

Women's suffrage

Drawn further into the suffrage movement by Anna Shaw, Alva donated large sums to the movement, both in the United Kingdom and United States. Anna Howard Shaw ( February 14, 1847 &ndash July 2, 1919) was a leading United States Civil The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In 1909, she founded the Political Equality League to get votes for suffrage-supporting New York State politicians, and wrote articles for newspapers. She gave strong support to labor in the 1909-1910 New York shirtwaist makers strike. She paid the bail of picketers who had been arrested and funded a large rally in the city's Hippodrome, which she addressed along with Anna Shaw, president of the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The Hippodrome Theatre (aka New York Hippodrome, 1933 stood in New York City from 1905 to 1939 at 6th and 43rd/44th on the site of what is now a large modern The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA an American women's rights organization was formed as an amalgamation of the National Woman Suffrage Association In 1909 she joined this organization and was named an alternate delegate from New York to the International Women's Suffrage Association meeting in London. There Alva observed the commitment of Emmeline Pankhurst and her followers, who would influence the depth and the form of her own personal commitment to the cause. Emmeline Pankhurst (née Goulden; 15 July 1858 14 June 1928 was a political activist and leader of the British Suffragette movement On her return to the United States, she paid for office space on Fifth Avenue that allowed the relocation of NAWSA offices to New York, and she funded its National Press Bureau. At the same time, she formed her own Political Equality League to seek broad support for suffrage in neighborhoods throughout the city, and, as its president, led its division of the 1912 Women's Votes Parade. ^[2]

National Woman's Party members picket the White House in 1917, the banner reads, "Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait For Liberty. "

By this time, organized suffrage activity was centered on educated, middle-class white women, who were often reluctant to accept immigrants, blacks, and the working class into their ranks. Belmont's Political Equality League only partially broke with this tradition. She established its first "suffrage settlement house" in Harlem, and she included black women and immigrants in weekend retreats at Beacon Towers, her Châteauesque style castle in Sands Point, New York. Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African American cultural and business center Châteauesque is an architectural style based on French château style used in the 1400s to the 1600s in the Loire Valley Sands Point is a village located at the northernmost tip of the Cow Neck Peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County, New However, she also contributed to the Southern Woman Suffrage Conference, which refused to admit blacks. ^[2]

The Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage (CU), organized by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman, separated from the NAWSA in 1913. The National Woman's Party (NWP was a women 's organization founded in 1917 that fought for Women's rights during the early 20th century in the United States Alice Stokes Paul (January 11 1885 &ndash July 9 1977 was an American suffragist leader Crystal Catherine Eastman ( June 25, 1881 - July 8, 1928) was a Lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist Alva then merged the Political Equality League into the CU. Now committed to securing the passage of the 19th Amendment, she convened a "Conference of Great Women" at Marble House in the summer of 1914. The Nineteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits each of the states and the federal government from Alva's daughter Consuelo, who promoted suffrage and prison reform in England, addressed the gathering, which was followed by the CU's first national meeting. Belmont served on the executive committee of the CU from 1914 to 1916. ^[2]

In 1915 Alva chaired the women voters' convention at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE was a World's fair held in San Francisco California between February 20 and December 4 in The following year, she and Alice Paul established the National Woman's Party from the membership of the CU and organized the first picketing ever to take place before the White House, in January 1917. The National Woman's Party (NWP was a women 's organization founded in 1917 that fought for Women's rights during the early 20th century in the United States See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence She was elected president of the National Woman's Party, an office she held until her death. The National Woman's Party continued to lobby for new initiatives from the Washington, D.C. headquarters that Alva had purchased in 1929 for the group, now the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D The Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington D ^[2]

Later life and death

From the early 1920s onward, she lived in France most of the time in order to be near her daughter Consuelo. She restored the 16th century Château d'Augerville La Rivière and used it as a residence. With Paul, she formed the International Advisory Council of the National Woman's Party and the Auxiliary of American Women abroad. She suffered a stroke in the spring of 1932 that left her partially paralyzed, and she died in Paris of bronchial and heart ailments on January 26, 1933. Events 1340 - King Edward III of England is declared King of France. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Her funeral at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City featured all female pallbearers and a large contingent of suffragists. For other churches with the same or similar name please see St She is interred next to Oliver Belmont in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. This article refers to the Woodlawn Cemetery in the New York City borough of The Bronx ^[2]

Quotations

• "Just pray to God. She will help you. "
• "First marry for money, then marry for love. "

References

Bibliography

• The Vanderbilt Women: Dynasty of Wealth, Glamour and Tragedy Clarice Stasz. New York, iUniverse, 2000.
• Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt Arthur T Vanderbilt. Perennial, 1989.

External links

• Long Island's Rebels With a Cause from New York Newsday
• Women in Philanthropy
• 75 Suffragists