Josephine (Shaw) Lowell (1843 - 1905)

Born 16 Dec 1843 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Charles Russell Lowell III — married 31 Oct 1863 in Staten Island, New York, USA

Died 12 Oct 1905 at age 61 in New York, USA

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Biography

Wikidata: Item Q15496866, en:Wikipedia

Josephine Shaw Lowell was born December 16, 1843. She is the daughter of Francis Shaw and Sarah Sturgis.^[1]

She married Charles Russell Lowell, Jr. 30 Oct 1863.^[1] He died in the Civil War Battle of Cedar Creek, 20 Oct 1864, less than a year after marrying. Their daughter Carlotta was born one month before his death.

His widow, who always wore black for the rest of her life, went back to the family on Staten Island where she had been married in the Unitarian Church. Her lifelong Unitarian faith was decisively manifest in her career of fostering organized philanthropy and government service.^[2]

She began her day and night labor helping to establish schools for black children in the South. On being appointed by Governor Tilden she became the first woman commissioner of the New York State Board of Charities, lobbying and legislating on behalf of the poor.

She was a Progressive Reform leader in the United States in the Nineteenth century. She is best known for creating the New York Consumers League in 1890.

She became the founder of the New York City's Charity Organization Society and was a national exemplar and interpreter of the social reform movement nationwide.

Josephine died in 1905. She is buried at Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Descendants of Nathaniel Russell Sturgis"; Marriage Date and Place from "Massachusetts Spy (Worcester, Mass.)" Vol. 92; Issue 48; Page 3 - Nov. 4, 1863.
2. ↑ Unitarianism in America
3. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42434342/josephine-lowell: accessed 11 December 2023), memorial page for Josephine Shaw Lowell (16 Dec 1843–12 Oct 1905), Find A Grave: Memorial #42434342, citing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by SLGMSD (contributor 46825959).