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Nebraska Authors

Clara Bewick Colby

Born 1846-08-05 Cheltenham (ENGLAND)

Died 1916-09-07
Palo Alto, CA (USA)

Buried
Windsor, WI (USA)
Windsor Congregational Cemetery

An activist and suffragist, Mrs. Colby, along with Harriet S. Brooks of Omaha, established the Nebraska Woman Suffrage Association in 1878. Colby was well-known through her work with the Suffrage newspaper called The Woman's Tribune which she founded and published in Beatrice, Nebraska in 1883. In 1888, she published the newspaper as a daily in Washington, D.C., where she reported the activities of the first International Congress of Women. While living in Beatrice, Mrs. Colby established the Beatrice Public Library and a community theater. She wrote many magazine articles and books in addition to her journalism, and was the former wife of General Leonard Wright Colby, whom she divorced in 1906.

Places Lived

Gloucestershire, ENGLAND
Windsor, WI
Madison, WI
Beatrice, NE
Washington, D.C.
Portland, OR
Palo Alto, CA

Author Of

  • Journalism
  • Nonfiction

Keywords

Woman Suffrage

Education

Bachelor of Philosophy in Literature, 1869, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Graduate Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Occupation

Professor of History and Latin at the University of Wisconsin
Suffragist
Lecturer
Writer

Places Worked

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Founded and published The Woman's Tribune 1883-1908 (beginning in Nebraska 1883-88, Washington D.C. 1888-1904, Portland, Oregon 1904-1908)

Honors

Delegate to the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Amsterdam, 1908
Delegate to the First International Moral Education Congress in London, 1908
Delegate to the International Peace Congress in London, 1908
Took part in woman's suffrage movement in England, 1910-11
Represented Oregon in 1913 at the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Budapest, Hungary and was a delegate to the International Peace Congress at The Hague
Class Valedictorian of the First Graduating Class of Women at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 1869

Associations

1883-1898, President of the Nebraska State Women Suffrage Association
Nebraska State Historical Society, Corresponding Secretary
Founder of the Beatrice Public Library, 1873
Phi Beta Kappa

Bibliography

The Song of the Plains.
London Past and Present.
The History of Woman's Suffrage (contributed 'History of Woman's Suffrage in Nebraska' for the book, edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony)
The Woman's Bible. (contributor with Elizabeth Cady Staton and Susan B. Anthony)

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Clara Bewick Colby
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(e.g. Author is buried in Fremont, not in David City / Also wrote for the Daily Nebraskan during her time as a student)