Alva’s family name was very respected by society - her ancestors had been in the South for a hundred years prior to the Revolutionary War, and her lineage could be traced to French and Scottish royalty. In 1875, Alva married William Vanderbilt, whose grandfather was the railroad tycoon Cornelius. Despite the family’s tremendous wealth, the Vanderbilts were still considered “new money” and did not have such a respected name. In this way, William benefitted from his union with Alva. Alva also benefited by gaining financial security (her family had been struggling after leaving the South).
Over the next few years, Alva reveled in her new fortune and ensured her family’s place in the elitist branches New York society. With her new wealth, Alva bought the largest luxury yacht in the world, pearls once owned by Catherine the Great, and furniture originally designed for Marie Antoinette. She commissioned the construction of magnificent mansions throughout New York City, Long Island, and Newport. She also funded many charities, many of which focused on poverty. During their marriage, Alva and William had three children together: Consuelo, William Kissam Jr., and Harold Stirling.
Despite the transactional gains of their marriage, Alva and William did not really get along. In 1895, Alva divorced William because he was cheating. The terms of the divorce gave Alva custody of her children, permission to remarry, and a significant monetary settlement. However, Alva was shunned by the elite society she once controlled. In order to regain status, she arranged for her daughter Consuelo to marry the Duke of Marlborough. Later, Alva got remarried to Oliver Belmont, who came from an important banking family. She remarked, “First marry for money, then marry for love,” referring to her two marriages.
After the death of Oliver in 1908, Alva became an active proponent of the suffragette movement and joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). She was one of the few women who constantly took measures to ensure that African American women were included in the effort. However, she was sometimes judged by others in the association because she came from great privilege compared to them, and she came off as aggressive.
In 1914, Alva left NAWSA and joined the more radical Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, which formed into the National Woman's Party (NWP). Up until her death in 1933, Alva continued to advocate for women’s rights as a leader and important benefactor of the NWP. Alva admired and sponsored Emmeline Pankhurst, an extreme suffragette from England. In addition, she fought for the ratification of the 19th amendment and financed campaigns that pushed for more equal citizenship laws.
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This is a really thorough post, and it's really admirable how Belmont advocated for herself and her pursuits despite the limitations of being a woman. Learning about her in middle school, one fun fact I remember is that she opened up her own restaurant called the Suffrage Cafeteria to attain more supporters for the suffrage movement. The Suffrage Cafeteria hosted regular luncheons and teas to fundraise for their movement, and during World War I, she turned her restaurant into a soup kitchen for unemployed women. It is really amazing what Belmont made of her situation, and ironically, the anti-suffrage men and societal double standards inspired her to open her own restaurant to advocate for a cause she cared deeply about.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.eater.com/2018/3/29/17164320/suffragette-restaurant-history-nyc
Great post! I love how you explained the events of her entire life as many people just focus on her relationship with the Vanderbilt family. After doing some additional research, I found that she was responsible for supporting politicians who supported women's rights and the suffrage movement. For example, in 1909, she founded the Political Equality League to get votes for suffrage-supporting New York State politicians.And in April 2016 on Equal Pay Day, Barack Obama honored Alva for her work in fighting for gender equality by establishing the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument in Washington, D.C.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alva_Belmont#Women's_suffrage