Alice Jane Gray Perkins

Alice Jane Gray Perkins or Jane Gray Perkins (28 August 1865 – 14 February 1948) was an American writer and teacher. She was known as a suffragist in the UK as well as in America.

Alice Jane Gray Perkins
in 1898
in 1898
Born28 August 1865
Schenectady
Died14 February 1948
New York
Pen nameJane Gray Perkins
Occupationteacher and writer
NationalityAmerican

Life

Perkins was born in Schenectady in 1865 to Anne Dunbar Potts Perkins. Her father Maurice Perkins was the Professor of Chemistry at Union College from 1865, so she was brought up on the college campus. Her mother is remembered for her letters which record the college's history.[1] Alice was one of three children. She traveled to Europe, but she started her interest in education at her home town by opening a school in 1895 for children. The school was short lived as she went to study further at Barnard College to increase her expertise in science and maths. Her family's funding resulted in a master's degree for Perkins in 1899.[2]

Alice continued to live in New York where she taught history at the Nightingale-Bamford School. In 1907 she published "The Life of the Honourable Mrs. Norton" using the name "Jane Grey Perkins".[2]

Alice Perkins planting at Eagle House in 1910

Eagle House near Bath in Somerset had become an important refuge for suffragettes who had been released from prison after hunger strikes. Mary Blathwayt's parents planted trees there between April 1909 and July 1911 to commemorate the achievements of suffragettes including Emmeline Pankhurst, Christabel Pankhurst, Annie Kenney, Charlotte Despard, Millicent Fawcett and Lady Lytton.[3] The trees were known as "Annie's Arboreatum" after Annie Kenney.[4][5] There was also a "Pankhurst Pond" within the grounds.[6]

Perkins was invited to Eagle House in 1910 and she recorded her visit by planting a Christmas Holly bush. A plaque was made and her photograph was recorded by Colonel Linley Blathwayt on 12 September wearing a brooch of the Women's Social and Political Union.[7]

Perkins co-wrote "Frances Wright: Free Enquirer" with Theresa Wolfson who was prominent in the American workers education movement. Their book was published in 1939.[2] Perkins died in New York in 1948.

Works
  • The Life of the Honourable Mrs. Norton, 1907
  • Frances Wright: Free Enquirer, 1939 (co-authored with Theresa Wolfson)[8]

References
  1. "Selected Biographies - Schaffer Library Union College". www.union.edu. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  2. "Alice Perkins - Schaffer Library Union College". www.union.edu. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  3. "Eagle House". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  4. Hammond, Cynthia Imogen (2017). Architects, Angels, Activists and the City of Bath, 1765-1965 ": Engaging with Women's Spatial Interventions in Buildings and Landscape. Routledge. ISBN 9781351576123.
  5. Hannam, June (Winter 2002). "Suffragette Photographs" (PDF). Regional Historian (8).
  6. "Book of the Week: A Nest of Suffragettes in Somerset". Woman and her Sphere. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  7. "Suffragette Alice Perkins 1910, Blathwayt, Col Linley". Bath in Time, Images of Bath online. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  8. Alice J. G. Perkins; Theresa Wolfson (1939). Frances Wright, Free Enquirer: The Study of a Temperament. Harper & brothers.
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