Call Number:

DG.014

Repository:

Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Extent:

1.25 linear ft. (1.25 linear ft.)

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of item] in the Rose Dabney Forbes Papers (DG 014), Swarthmore College Peace Collection.

Date:

1914-1924 (inclusive)

Abstract:

Rose Dabney Malcolm Forbes' (ca. 1875-1947) main interest was peace and international relations, sbut he also gave her time to the fields of food conservation and child welfare. Forbes was chairman of the Massachusetts Branch of the Woman's Peace Party from 1915 to 1920. Under her leadership the Massachusetts branch helped organize a food conservation program during the First World War. In 1920 Forbes became a member of the Advisory Council Massachusetts branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She was also active in many other organizations, including the Massachusetts Peace Society and the National Council for Prevention of War. Rose Dabney Forbes was a wealthy woman who gave funds the National Council for Prevention of War, giving that organization $100,000 between 1921 and 1942.

Rose Dabney Forbes (ca. 1875-1947) or Rose Dabney Malcolm Forbes as she also frequently signed her name, a resident of Milton, Massachusetts. She was a woman of considerable means and worked in many causes. Although her main interest was peace and international relations, she also gave her time to the fields of food conservation and child welfare. Forbes was chairman of the Massachusetts Branch of the Woman's Peace Party from 1915 to 1920. Under her leadership the Massachusetts branch helped organize a food conservation program during the First World War, a kitchen and a series of stores that prepared and sold the conserved produce. A program for the proper nutrition and health of young children was another interest of the branch under Forbes. When the Woman's Peace Party became the U.S. section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1920, Forbes became a member of the Massachusetts branch's Advisory Council. She was also active in many other organizations, including the Massachusetts Peace Society and the National Council for Prevention of War.

Rose Dabney Forbes was a wealthy woman who gave funds to various peace organizations. She was particularly generous to the National Council for Prevention of War, giving that organization $100,000 between 1921 and 1942.

There were a number of other organizations and causes besides peace in which Forbes showed especial interest. The Boston League of Women voters, the Milton Women's Club, and the Women's National Committee for Law Enforcement were among her concerns.

Correspondents and others in the collection are Jane Addams, Fanny Fern Andrews, Katherine Devereux Blake, James MacDonald, Christina Merriman, and Rosika Schwimmer.

The material was sent to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection by Mrs. Forbes and includes her personal correspondence and writings as well as records of the many groups with which she worked. Also included are cartoons, photographs, and posters collected by Mrs. Forbes and many of her badges and pins. Two scrapbooks contain clippings about World War I.

For more material on her work as chairman of the Massachusetts Branch of the Woman's Peace Party (DG 43) (League for Permanent Peace from March 6, 1918 until 1920), see the boxes of that organization. See also the papers of Lucia Ames Mead, who was secretary of the national Woman's Peace Party and who worked closely with Mrs. Forbes.

Box 1 contains correspondence of Rose Dabney Forbes and general peace movement material. Box 2 contains documents concerning the various organizations with which Forbes was connected.