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Carrie W
Farmgirl Legend/Chapter Guru

437 Posts


Saratoga Springs New York
USA
437 Posts

Posted - Jul 04 2021 :  11:32:08 AM  Show Profile
In researching “top influential women in the U.S.” for this badge, I came across a name that I did not recognize—Clare Booth Luce—who is recognized as “One of America’s most famous and controversial women.” The word “controversial” caught my eye, as those are usually the most interesting stories, in my opinion. It turns out that Clare was a playwright, actress, Congresswoman, and an ambassador. So, I read the biography of her life written by Stephen Shadegg.
Young Clare attended The Castle, a girl’s school in Tarrytown on the Hudson, founded by Cassity Mason. It was there that she made the acquaintance of the Rockefeller family and was a regular visit to the Rockefeller Estate adjoining the school. Clare, always thinking herself “plain and unattractive” first made the papers at the age of 18, being referred to as the “Beauty of the Riviera” by the NY press after a time abroad with her mother and under the “very benign eye” of Mr. and Mrs. James Cushman, socially prominent philanthropist whom she met and charmed on that journey. Also on that return trip abroad, Clare met Mrs. O.H.P. Belmont, a grande dame of New York society, previously married to a Vanderbilt, and organizer of the Women’s National Party. Mrs. Belmont felt that Clare could be a possible replacement within the Suffragette movement which had suffered the loss earlier that year of Inez Mulholland. Clare capitulated to Mrs. Belmont’s entreaties to join the movement and later found herself dropping leaflets from a World War Jenny aircraft, onto Schenectady, NY, to announce an event celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Women’s Rights Conference. After a failed marriage to playboy Georgy Brokaw, millionaire son of merchant Isaac Vale Brokaw, Clare looked up an old acquaintance, Conde Nast of Vogue and Vanity Fair, and surreptitiously acquired a job as a caption-writer, leading to work at Vanity Fair as assistant editor, then Associate Editor six months later, and Managing Editor after two years. The rest of Clare’s life is filled with accomplishments such as writing the play “The Women” (now with three movie versions), many politically charged articles for McCalls, major contributions to Vanity Fair as a WWII war correspondent where she is also attributed as giving Jay Franklin his national reputation in politics with her articles. It was during her tenure in a role of advisor to FDR through Hugh Johnson during their push of the National Recovery Act that she became convinced that socialism and Fascism as related to Roosevelt’s politics would be devastating to the country, saying, “The fatal flaw in the plan was the element of coercion…It won’t work if America is to remain a free country.” Once again focusing her attentions on wartime journalism, Clare developed the idea of photo journalism, which at the time was shelved at Vanity Fair but later picked up by her future husband, Henry Luce, owner and top editor at Time/Life magazines. Among Clare’s associates and friends are Winston Churchill, Wendell Willkie, and President Eisenhower. She exerted a tremendous amount of influence wherever she went, and is credited with helping Eisenhower become President, and influencing an end to WWII. She captured the heart of the Italian people during her years as an American Ambassador to Italy, and it was rumored that Eisenhower would choose her as his VP running mate for his second term. After retiring from politics she wrote several plays, learned to paint and create mosaics, learned to deep sea dive, and finally settled in to a more leisurely lifestyle where she entertained and enjoyed traveling with husband, continuing to be consulted by her friends in high places of government, in the USA and abroad.
I know that this is more than 5 things that I learned about Clare Booth Luce, but I found her story fascinating and I was able to connect with her on so many levels. She was a regular gal, like me, who learned to work hard and not to be afraid to try new things. She had tremendous courage and intellect. I enjoyed her story very much.



Farmgirl Sisterhood #147
2009 Farmgirl of the Year

Not your average Girl ;-)

Tis better to weep at joy than to joy at weeping--Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

MaryJanesNiece
True Blue Farmgirl

6625 Posts

Krista
Utah
USA
6625 Posts

Posted - Jul 07 2021 :  12:35:27 PM  Show Profile
Neat story Carrie. Thank you for sharing. This is the first I have heard of Clair and she sounds like an amazing woman. I love how she was involved in so much and remained so influential. Great work on the badge.

Krista
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