Emily Greene Balch
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
academic, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and pacifist who received the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
in 1946 (the prize that year was shared with John Mott
John Mott
John Raleigh Mott was a long-serving leader of the YMCA and the World Student Christian Federation...
), notably for her work with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was established in the United States in January 1915 as the Woman's Peace Party...
(WILPF).
Born in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
into an affluent family, she was amongst the first graduates of Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
in 1889. She continued to study sociology and economics in Europe and the United States, and, in 1896, she joined the faculty of Wellesley College, becoming a full professor of economics and sociology in 1913.
During the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, she helped to found the WILPF League and campaigned against America's entry into the conflict.
When her contract was terminated by Wellesley because of her pacifist activities, she became an editor of The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, a well-known liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
news magazine, acted as secretary of the WILPF (a second term in 1934 without salary for a year and a half), and did much work for the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
.
Balch converted from Unitarianism
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and became a Quaker in 1921. She never married. She died the day after her 94th birthday.
Further reading
- Kristen E. Gwinn. Emily Greene Balch: The Long Road to Internationalism (University of Illinois Press; 2011) 272 pages; a biography
See also
- List of female Nobel laureates
- Emily Green Balch biography at Nobel Prize site.
- Emily Greene Balch: The Long Road to Internationalism by Kristen E. Gwinn, 272 pages, published 2010 by University of Illinois Press.ISBN 9780252035784.
- "Peace is too small a word": the life and ideas of Emily Greene Balch by Kristen E. Gwinn, 704 pages, published George Washington University 2008, ISBN 0549659404, ISBN 9780549659402.
- Tribute to Emily Greene Balch by John Dewey, pages 149-150 in Later Works of John Dewey volumn 17. First published in Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, 1946 page 2.
- Public Assistance of the Poor in France By Emily Greene Balch, 179 pages, published 1893 as volumn 8 numbers 4 & 5 of Publications of the American Economic Association.
- A Study of Conditions of City Life: with Special Reference to Boston, A Bibliography By Emily Greene Balch, 13 pages, published 1903.
- Our Slavic Fllow Citizens By Emily Greene Balch, 536 pages, published 1910.
- Women at the Hague: the International Congress of Women and its Results By Jane AddamsJane AddamsJane Addams was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace...
, Emily Greene Balch, Alice HamiltonAlice HamiltonAlice Hamilton was the first woman appointed to the faculty of Harvard University and was a leading expert in the field of occupational health...
. 171 pages, published 1915 by MacMillan. - Approaches to the Great Settlement By Emily Greene Balch, Pauline Knickerbocker Angell, 351 pages, published 1918.