Theodore Stanton papers

Overview

Theodore Weld Stanton, "bounded upon the stage of life ... " on February 10, 1851. (1) Remarkably, in spite of the shadow cast by both his parents, two very public figures, Theodore managed to carve his own niche in the public sphere. Theodore's mother, with the support of Lucretia Mott, rocked the nation and Seneca Falls on July 19-20, 1848, with the first Woman's Rights Convention. Henry Brewster Stanton was a New York senator at this time, working in Albany. Both parents were well known abolitionists and advocates for the elective franchise of women. Theodore would later be introduced to the Committee of the International Union, by Moncure D. Conway as an " ... eminent American, as well as an eminent internationalist and a friend of peace," in 1900. (2)

In 1878, Stanton, with Julia Ward Howe and Mary A. Livermore, brought American participation to the first international women's rights convention in Paris. His mother, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, acknowledged her son's contribution in her diary, as any proud mother would. Both parent activists, throughout Theodore's life, were prolific authors and prodigious stage performers on the lecture circuit. Theodore did not gravitate toward law, as did. his father and brothers, but developed a keen interest in literary endeavors. At the age of fifteen, he wrote to William Cullen Bryant for advice on a career in literature. (3) Theodore's father, also a career journalist and editorial writer, added to his son's growing reputation as an author and newspaperman in Paris, in his own reminiscences. It was through both parents that Theodore became introduced to the editors and journalists of the day. Around his sixteenth year, he was introduced to John R. Young, then working at the Tribune, who lured Theodore to the world of the foreign correspondent. France was the main topic, then just a few years shy of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 and the beginning of the Third Republic under the presidency of Louis A. Thiers. Theodore eventually, apart from two earlier trips, 1873-75, 1878, held continuous residence there, mostly in Paris, from 1881-1925.

Early years, 1863-1879

1863 proved to be a watershed year for the Stanton family. An indelible impression was left by the July draft law riots when total chaos engulfed New York City, as Theodore's older brother Gerrit wrote: "For three days the great city .... was at the mercy of the mob .... During one of those awful days I was the custodian of Horace Greeley at the home of my uncle Dr. Bayard .... was taken from his own home to save his life .... " An exemption had been passed into law that allowed any young man of age for the military able to pay $300 to be legally excused from service. There was at the time a substantial underclass of people from various ethnic backgrounds, struggling to survive in a labyrinth of shanty towns, who deeply resented the law. Of forty-nine buildings damaged in the ensuing mayhem, four were destroyed, including the "colored orphan asylum," along with two lumberyards. Amongst three murdered men, a black male was left hanging after being killed, a trophy of pure racism. Greeley, the proprietor of the New York Tribune, was well known to support the abolitionists and feared being a target, as did the Stantons and Susan B. Anthony. The mob had tried in vain to destroy the Tribune building. (4)

A scandal erupted that year over the illegal discharge of bonds held at the New York City Customs House. Theodore's elder brother Daniel had found it lucrative to accept bribes for the return of bonds held against the cargo of ships docked in the city. The elder Stanton was forced to resign his post as Deputy Collector of Customs in December, after being placed on suspension in October of 1863. He found it necessary to make public the nature and circumstances of the illicit activity and the terms of his political appointment in the pages of the New York Times. (5) Henry Stanton was ultimately tried and convicted by a Congressional committee in 1864, even though charges were not brought against him. (6) Although Daniel was never charged, his escapade fueled speculation of treason and cast a dismal pall over his father's political career. Henry Brewster Stanton's own private law practice went into decline as a result. If not for the pugnacious support of Horace Greeley, the proprietor of the New York Tribune, he would have found it difficult to find work as an editorial writer.

Theodore had entered the public school system of the city soon after his arrival in 1862. He then entered the College of the City of New York in 1866, but left at the end of his freshman year in 1868. (7) In June of 1867, Stanton's mother broke with Horace Greeley, also Henry's employer, owing to the refusal of the constitutional convention in New York to venture beyond universal suffrage of man and extend the fight for the elective franchise of women. Henry Stanton also parted company with his old friend Greeley and the New York Tribune. From 1867, Mrs. Stanton and Susan B. Anthony received financial support from George F. Train, which barely kept the two women's initiative alive and did not endear them politically to the Republicans. A new house in Tenafly, New Jersey was finished in 1868; with Henry, now 63, maintaining the townhouse and office at Nassau St. in New York. With the sale of their brownstone in the city, the family's fragile economic affairs appeared to turn for the better. By 1869 Theodore's mother began lecturing for the Lyceum Bureau, which in turn allowed Theodore to enter Cornell. It is likely that during the period 1867-70 Stanton trained with his father in newspaper work and quite likely worked with John R. Young. 1869 brought a schism between Mrs. Stanton and Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe over the race issue. (8)

Stanton leaves no hint of being affected by this period of turmoil, at least not in his papers. The effects upon his parent's financial well-being was obviously brought to his attention. Materialism aside, the events that drew his father to conclude that women could probably do a better job on their own, and the ultimate decision of the National Woman Suffrage Association to bar male members, must have had a confusing influence on the eighteen year old. His entire life at this point had revolved around the quest for equality; now he was being asked to accept exclusion. There was, however, another aspect-the reverberations from the July Draft Law riots of 1863. Racism had reared its ugly head and there were all too many antagonists toward human equality; the North was reeling with the reality of emancipation. Other ethnic groups struggling with abject poverty were forced to vie in the labor market and found themselves sinking yet further. Prominent members of society had learned that less visibility did have some advantages and did not involve abdication from any of their beliefs; personal safety had become a guiding issue. Theodore's liberation from his duties as the son of two public figures probably did taste quite sweet. It freed him to explore his own interests in the political history of France. Theodore was enrolled at Cornell University in the Fall of 1870 where he remained until the end of the spring semester of 1873. (9) He was initiated into the Kappa Alpha Society, a fraternity, at the Ithaca Hotel on October 13th 1870. (10)

There he became involved with the Adelphi Society, a debating club, and found outlets for his tendencies as a journalist through university publications, becoming the editor of the Cornellian. During his freshman year Stanton's first paid newspaper article was published in the Standard, one of three papers in a small syndicate owned by John Russell Young. (11) During this same period, Stanton was involved in fundraising for his fraternity and organized a lecture series that included guest speakers such as Horace Greeley and Frederick Douglass. It is likely that as a result of the series, Stanton contacted Young and found a venue for reports on the lectures. (12)

For the school years 1873-1875, Theodore studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the College of France. His mother, ever mindful of her son's education, offered this advice:" ... dwell on the importance of keeping the sensuous nature ever under control of the spiritual. The ordinary young girls are not worth your thought or attention. Better exercise with dumb-bells than visit them." Theodore dutifully took the advice in train, and rose to the rank of Director of the Kappa Alpha Gymnasium Club, and kept score for the fraternity baseball team. From 1875 until June of 1877 he continued his studies at Cornell and earned his A.M. In the spring of 1878 he returned to Paris. He found some journalistic assignments covering the World's Fair of 1878 to help pay his way. He does note working for the New York Evening Post around this time. His primary mission in France was the lecture platform at the World's Fair; attending from July 25-August 9, the Congrès International du Droit des Femmes, the first International Women's Rights Congress. (13) Stanton, along with Julia Ward Howe and Mary A. Livermore, delivered papers on the woman question as it was unfolding in the U.S. Two hundred and twenty members from around the globe representing six countries participated in the event.

Stanton the journalist, 1880-1900

Stanton's introduction to the Paris realm of the Fourth Estate came from two veteran British journalists, George M. Crawford and his wife Emily, in the early summer of 1874. Both had fought for the right of the foreign press to have a gallery at the Palais Bourbon, which finally became a reality in 1873. (14) The foreign press corps was not organized in the city until 1879 with the Paris Syndicate of Foreign Correspondents (Syndicale de la presse étrangère.) (15) Given this sense of structure and a restrictive press law that was in the process of change, it is rather easy to conclude that the affairs of the foreign correspondent were rather simple. Stanton's interests in the political life and history of France, however, could lead to discovery by the authorities and punishment. Anarchist meetings, forbidden by law, were constantly under surveillance; yet journalists usually had the best intelligence. Like the great urban centers of America, Paris also fell beneath the political power of its newspapers and their sometimes unscrupulous proprietors. On the one hand, the government controlled its own news agency; at the other extreme, as Theodore Child put it: "In France it costs no more to keep a daily 'political, financial, and literary' newspaper than it does to keep a steam yacht, an elegant mistress, or a pack of deerhounds ... it may lead to all sorts of things, even to the Presidency of the Republic." (16)

France and its journalists much preferred to discuss art and literature, as evinced in the widely misunderstood feuilleton, which stood in sharp contrast to the Anglo-American straight news story. There were indeed good reasons for aspiring to more spiritual ground during this questionable period of press freedom. A chilling example of the power of government censorship was evinced with the execution of Camille Fancy in 1881; found guilty of treason by the military command in Morocco. Fancy was reporting for several Parisian newspapers at the time. (17) News of the day could be controlled by financial penalties and possible imprisonment. It is small wonder that the French press were obliged to continue the practice of the feuilleton and shunned the Anglo-American idea of news point as pure commodity. Many authors could live as exiles or face public scorn as did Hugo and Zola, but the practice of writing stories, journalistic or otherwise, did not usually end in execution. (18)

Although Stanton initially signed on with the Berlin bureau of Whitelaw Reid's New York Tribune in 1880, his motivation was purely to be closer to his fiancée Clara, whose father Andrew D. White was the president of Cornell University and simultaneously served as U.S. Minister to Germany. The proximity to France proved an overpowering allure for the young correspondent, and he made frequent visits to Paris. It was during these excursions that Stanton met Marguerite Berry and he moved to Paris in the spring of 1881, they were married on May 19. (19) After his return from a honeymoon in America, he filed one more signed letter to the Tribune. In October of that year he covered the Geneva Peace Congress, where he served as American delegate. (20)

Paris in the early 1880s could boast a large British embassy as its commitment to foreign policy and interests in Europe. America, on the other hand, supported a small Legation of the United States; an embassy was not created until 1894. Even then, Congressional support for the diplomatic corps was stymied with poor funding, thus leaving the brunt of expenses the responsibility of the individual diplomat, if his private resources allowed. American interests abroad were growing, especially in regard to international tribunals for the settlement of trade disputes. However, American public opinion lagged far behind this growing world view and would not be shaken until the Spanish American War at the end of the century. Britain, at this point, was reaching its high-water-mark in regard to its empire; France, on the other hand, under Jules Ferry, was expanding its domestic economy through colonial expansion.

At the beginning of the 1880s, the Tribune controlled much of the flow of information from Europe. The enterprise, in turn helped support the work of the New York Associated Press (NYAP.) This control remained effective until 1892, when fraud was announced by Victor Lawson, a Chicago newspaperman. (21) In comparison, the New York Times of the day took all its international reports from the London Times service. The NYAP combined part of its own service reports with the Times and from the Reuters News Service, with Wolff Agency wires from Germany, and the Agence Havas of France. The situation in Paris was exasperating for American journalists who felt unable to report on current affairs with the express view of an American audience. The London Times catered to the appetite of the British Empire, and the French counterpart Le Temps, under the guidance of the state controlled Havas agency, covered their own colonial territory. American interests in publishing boasted the American Register, founded in 1868, but by 1880 was described as 'nerveless and thin blooded,' by Margaret Bertha. However, the editor of The Parisian, Charles Wasson offered a more 'lively' rival. (22)

Stanton, during the winter of 1880-81, began formulating The Woman Question in Europe, a project that kept him occupied through publication in 1884. Frances Power Cobbe introduced the work and recommended all the authors who contributed on England. The remainder of the countries represented were found through historical sources, as well as through various U.S. Legations in the far outreaches of Europe. In 1882, Stanton's mother and sister arrived to spend time with a grandchild, Elizabeth Cady Stanton II. His mother, already exhausted with literary work, spent a month at Jacournassy, the Berry estate in the Tarn " ... putting bad English into the best I could command." (23)

Theodore Stanton did not obligate himself to a newspaper until January 1883, at which time he began a regular series of letters to the Chicago Daily Inter Ocean. He also began contributing to French journals, his first being Mme. Adam's Nouvelle Revue. If Stanton held any reticence on speaking publicly on current political changes in France, they had evaporated by April, 1883, as he took up the cause of Louise Michel, the 'high priestess of anarchy.' Michel " ... should not have been sentenced to six years of prison ... her followers, not she ... pillaged .. .It is only one more instance of the injustice of French justice. In England or America Louise Michel would have either been acquitted, or would at least have gotten off with a slight fine and a few weeks in jail. .. every true friend of French republicanism cannot but wish that this evidence of weakness or despotism ... had not been published to the world." (24)

In 1886, with the support of Edward Smith King and Wason, a news syndicate was formed and called The European Correspondent. The enterprise, which involved shipping weekly to New York copies of news events and 'specials' written by well known authors of the day, undercut the cost of cabling dramatically. The enterprise drew from continental sources such as the reliable Indépendence Belge. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and daughter Harriot Stanton Blatch both contributed, as did H.E. Berner, Emilio Castelar y Ripoll, Theodore Child, Emily Crawford, Frederick Douglass, Henry M. Field, Grace Greenwood, Gerard Harry, Victor Hugo, Edward King, Cleveland L. Moffett, Theodore Tilton, Emile Zola, etc. Coincidently, L. White Busbey from the Inter Ocean also was drawn to Paris the following year. (25)

In 1887, James G. Bennett brought out a Paris edition of his paper the New York Herald after an attempt to purchase the Galignani Messenger failed; an oversight in reading the legal material connected to the purchase, later revealed that the title of the newspaper could not be changed. Another Cornellian, Julius Chambers, had been given the charge of launching the news enterprise and provides humorous anecdotal information of how the cable system operated. While Chambers transformed the format of the Galignani Messenger for Bennett, his observations broadened in scope and one learns that the pages of the Morning News are in fact derived from the cables leased by the Galignani Messenger ; this plundering was possible as they shared the same building. Bennett did not purchase the concern as he could not change its name, but obviously the physical plant was the prime allure. (26)

Stanton, soon after joining the Chicago Inter Ocean, began filing reports for the New York Independent and the Nation. During 1888, Stanton served as American editor of the Galignani Messenger and also directed the European Correspondent until its demise around 1890, at which time he became the agent for the NYAP. The choice of Stanton for the NYAP extends beyond his tenure in Paris and professionalism as a journalist, and may in fact, reflect upon his exercise of diplomacy. In May 1889, Whitelaw Reid arrived as the new Minister to France, and apart from his public nostrums of support for the freedom of the press, did indeed exercise his propriety position of the New York Tribune. Within months of his arrival, explicit instructions were sent to Donald Nicholson in New York that barred his paper's reporters from criticizing France in any way, which in turn led to penalties for repeat infractions of these rules. (27)

In 1892, the NYAP fell into disrepute with the disclosure that the current Minister to France, Whitelaw Reid, and other New York proprietors were illegally channeling information to a rival news service, which, in tum, sold the news back to members of the NYAP. Five of the board members had accepted money from the United Press, a formal arrangement that was established in 1888. Credibility did not return to the organization until the formation of the Associated Press under the direction of Victor Lawson at the turn of the century. There were no repercussions for Stanton from the scandal; he had now been with the Chicago papers ten years, and was certainly a chief rival for intelligence gathered at Paris to Victor Lawson. Lawson had purchased the Chicago Daily News in 1876, and was " ... known for its many woman-interest and home features. Victor Lawson, the late publisher of this nationally known evening paper, believed strongly in this outstanding service to women, which has been a leading factor in building up his paper's enormous circulation. " (28)

Stanton had been in the situation of witnessing first-hand, the pillaging of international reports and their subsequent publication; from May 12, 1889-Aug.31, 1890 he attempted to stall the practice by copyrighting, either in his own name, or through the author. For instance, Frank Leslie's contributions, to Stanton's newspapers were copyrighted, either in his own name, or in Stanton's. (29) Victor Lawson, the proprietor of the Chicago Daily News since 1876, likely had more input into the affairs at Paris and the selection of Stanton during the following period. (30)

Around 1889, Stanton became involved with the Baron Tauchnitz, a German publisher and supported his interests in publishing American literature for a broader European market; this connection continued until the advent of the First World War. The Stantons now had three children: Lizette born 1882; a second child died a few hours after birth; Robert born in 1885, and Helen, born in 1889. Stanton maintained an office at home; as his responsibilities grew along with the family, they moved to 9 Rue de Bassano. Around the same time, he became the agent for the North American Review, which he served for the next quarter of a century. In 1889, Stanton and Noel Parfait were members of the international jury for literature at the Paris Exposition. By the 1890s, Stanton had developed a rapport with numerous foreign and domestic publishers, along with a roster of international figures capable of rendering for the American market a reliable picture of world affairs.

The first meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was held in the summer of 1894, and Stanton attended as its first publicist. The growing spirit in Europe of internationalism was spilling over into athletics, mostly carried by the idealism of the Baron Coubertin, to whom Demetrios Bikelas introduced Stanton. Prof. Sloane of Princeton, occupying himself in study at the capitol, also joined in the effort. Stanton continued the connection and represented the IOC from 1900-4. In October of 1894, Stanton was a guest lecturer at Hobart College, an annual trip which would continue for the next ten years. His mother was also to bring out the first volume of the Woman's Bible. Along with the aid of a London publishing house, the family decided to create their own company The European Publishing Co., of New York and Paris, with the completion of volume two. (31)

A false report in September 1896, claimed that Capt. Dreyfus had escaped from Devil's Island. The military government of France had hoped to brush the Dreyfus affair into obscurity, but were thwarted, in no small measure, by the international press. (32) In January 1897, the somewhat clandestine rumor-mill of the press still managed to shake questions of the French government concerning Dreyfus. Henri de Blowitz, correspondent for the London Times, sought a confirmation, or denial from Stanton, concerning the latest "escape." Blowitz, in tum, was being asked by the McClure syndicate, based in the United States, for a word concerning the substance of the report. (33) Alfred Dreyfus would remain on Devil's Island, in Guiana, until June 9, 1899. (34) Stanton also had the ability to intercede on behalf of private parties; such was a case concerning Stanton's former fiancée, Clara, a daughter of AD. Whiate, who was left helpless from the abuse of the press, fueled by a bitter husband. (35)

At the time of the Spanish-American War, in 1898, Stanton worked for Victor Lawson as the director of the Record Cable Service (RCS.) Stanton established offices for the cable service and shared space with the NAR and the Harper Company, which were both under the stewardship of George Harvey. Harvey took over as editor of NAR from David A. Munro in 1899, the same year he assumed the responsibility of salvaging the ailing house of Harper. Stanton kept his tenure with the latter, only for a few short years. The Harper bankruptcy was also felt in Paris, with many authors being left unpaid, and certainly in no mood to take on new assignments. Stanton, with the aid of Charles Malato, during the Spanish-American war, was able to have news smuggled out of Spain and then cabled to Paris from just inside the French border. Lawson sold the Chicago Record in 1901, but kept the cable service operation and his Daily News office at the same address. The physical plant of Lawson's bureau, in turn, supported the operation of the fledgling Associated Press (AP). (36)

By 1899, Henry J. Middleton oversaw reporting for the AP in Paris, who reported to the European manager in London, Walter Neef. (37) Lamar Middleton ran the affairs of the Daily News with Stanton at the helm of the RCS. (38) Stanton in turn managed a number of agents who covered various other international developments. Delmar watched the Chinese embassy for news of the Boxer Rebellion; Joseph Reinach, Lazare and others contributed to the myriad sides of the Dreyfus case; and Agoncillo cabled news of the Philippine uprising. (39) Stanton had been contributing to the Open Court from 1887, and maintained regular correspondence in the New York Critic since 1893 and Independent from 1891. Many authors had become reliant on his ability to find outlets for their work.

The age of the robber barons' control over business and the press had declined since the bloody Homestead strike of 1892, yet vestiges of the old system would remain until after the end of World War I. There was a continuous need for fresh insight on the world stage. Where American journalists had fought the battle for press freedom abroad, larger battles loomed on the horizon at home. Issues of editorial censorship were pervasive in the publishing industry. Although Stanton became repeatedly involved with ventures that could circumvent political intrusion into the world of journalism, all of his attempts failed. In 1900, the French government, through it network of telegraphic lines, could also flex an inordinate amount of muscle on any news organization. The AP cables were often left on hold as government intelligence took priority of the lines, leaving the monopoly of news to be controlled by the Agence Havas.

1901-1925

The French ambassador to Washington, Jules Cambon, became involved in the issue of press freedom. He and Stanton first became acquainted at the beginning of 1900, which led to Stanton's contact with the Minister of Justice, Ludovic Trarieux, and A. Lausel, Sous-Sécrétaire d'Etat des Pastes et des Télégraphes, who outlined the current policy of cabling to America. Cambon and Stanton were in contact, again, in June and July 1902, presumably preparing for M. E. Stone, who would visit France in the autumn, to continue discussions of AP impartiality and freedom from government pressure. (40)

1901 found Stanton trying to launch a continental edition of the North American Review. (41) From 1903-1906, he attempted to have a 'Nobel Review' launched. (42) In 1905, Booker T. Washington addressed a concern of his to Stanton, Paris agent of the International Literary Bureau. A manuscript from Washington, submitted to the Revue des Deux Mondes and ultimately not published, also remained unreturned. Stanton was given permission to reclaim the work and publish it, 'simultaneously in London, Paris and Berlin.' (43) Washington was probably mistaken with the name of the company, it was in fact called the European Correspondence Bureau, which Stanton had directed approximately since 1890. It was created to deal with the demand in Paris and the United States for reliable information, written by authoritative and recognized sources. He negotiated contracts and terms for a variety of international publishers, along with the concerns of individual authors. It was manifested in a 'Circular Literary Letter' published in Paris. (44)

The Circular Literary Letter of the European Correspondence Bureau published " ... simultaneously in a half-dozen Anglo-American daily and weekly newspapers, the organs of the ... colonies of Berlin, Alexandria, Florence, Rome, etc." Stanton attracted such influential foreign journalists as American correspondent Olive Logan. Stanton, ever active in the affairs of the American colony in Paris, perennially sought improvement in Franco-American relations. Such energy oversaw the gift from America, a replica of the famous Auguste Bartholdi sculpture known as "The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World," which the American University Dinner Club, of which Stanton was secretary, presented to the City of Paris, in 1885. Stanton suggested the name for the Cercle Républicain at 5 ave de l'Opéra, a " .. .leading French political club of Paris, which, at my suggestion, brought into its membership the republican diplomatic corps .... thus making the club an international politics club." (45) The location of the Chicago Daily News office, RCS, NAR offices, and now the club, was perfect for Stanton as it was all at the same address. He could enter the side of the building for his various business interests at 10 Blvd. des Italiens, or slip out through the office of the Daily News that occupied the comer where the boulevard opened into the Place de l' Opéra. The family had also moved closer to the Ave de Trocadero. Around 1908, Stanton attempted to launch 'Le Magazine.' Yet another attempt came in 1911-12, when Stanton and a number of other publicists tried to bring out the 'International Journal'; the attempt was to be revived again in the early 1920s, the limited result of which was the publishing of an article on "Prohibition in France," from the elusive International Interpretor. (46)

The course of the First World War and the treatment of European nations in the American press fueled Stanton's quest for a vehicle that was broad in its scope and equally sensitive to the individuality of the countries concerned. The failure of President Wilson's 'Fourteen Points of Light' after the treaty of Versailles only served to bolster Stanton's obstinacy in yielding to the editorial control over world affairs. Stanton and others had grown hostile toward the editor of the Nation, Oswald Villard, and his lack of commitment during the war. Stanton was influenced by the concerns of France and continually sought a venue to encourage American involvement in the theatre. The German-born Villard, in tum, felt bound to remain non-committal on the issue, and was in turn influenced by the politics of other German-Americans. There was no question of Villard' s loyalty to the United States, but he had difficulty fighting even a war of words against his former homeland. (47)

On returning to France in 1916, after a short period in the United States, Stanton issued a summary of the extent of the German propaganda machine at work in Europe, identifying which publications took funding from the government. He worked for the American Field Service at Neuilly as an orderly, reading and writing letters for the wounded. He did editing for the AFS, and also for the Clearing House. His children also supported the war effort. Helen worked for the Red Cross, mostly using her language skills; and Robert became a captain in the army.

Harold de Wolf Fuller, a defector from the control of Villard, quit his post as editor, and with others, including Stanton, formed another enterprise, the Weekly Review. Stanton, in America from September 1919, brought to the concern his political connections from Europe and submitted literary and political editorials. He contributed both signed and unsigned material and found outlets for European authors, often-times serving as the translator. Stanton's broad political views were soon hampered by the growing conservatism of the other editors, so he withdrew. Returning to Europe, in July 1920, he travelled widely with his daughter Helen, at first blush on the project of an international periodical. On closer inspection, many of the locations he visited had renowned spas and sanitariums as their focal point; Stanton's daughter was struggling with tuberculosis. (48)

Stanton first visited New Brunswick and the President of Rutgers College, Dr. William Demarest, on January 21, 1918. His erratic stay in New Brunswick, possibly as much as two and a half years in total was spent indexing approximately 6,000 monographs, and with organising and binding what was to be known as the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Memorial Collection. (49) His own health began to decline. The spring of 1920 realized a dream: women were finally recognised, endowed with political rights to the elective franchise. Theodore's entire life was inextricably bound with that single issue, as were all the children of the late Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The Stanton name, however during this period, produced admiration and amusement, as well as censorship or criticism, but also a degree of isolation. The all consuming example of inquiry and labor that was set by their mother and Susan B. Anthony had finally come to fruition. Yet the memory of their mother was barely acknowledged, more often than not by the pens of her children, Harriot Stanton Blatch and Theodore Stanton.

Stanton's contributions were quite profound in support of equality; more remarkable still was his ability to survive forty-seven years promoting these ideas on the public stage as a man of letters. His legacy was as a universal suffragist, for lack of a better term, and in his ability and enormous energy to facilitate anything connected to peace, trade and any humanitarian issue. Stanton served many causes that fostered free speech, spurred the exchange of ideas across continents, and internationalism. He advocated for a foundation to be established at Cornell that would bring speakers from Europe. He even introduced speakers to New Brunswick. In bringing a project to fruition, be it a world exposition, cultural exchange, or educational venture, Stanton left his name. Stubbornness he did inherit from his parents, although he remained in public an agreeable, amiable fellow. In July of 1910, he is recorded as being one of the first males to be publicly denounced by New York editors in the cause of challenging the barriers of the all-male clubs of the city. He invited their fury by simply bringing a female guest. He certainly took risks in his research on the radicals of Paris in the late 1870s, where far more intelligence was realized at the underground meetings, which eluded government surveillance. He was not shy of voicing his feelings against the U.S., for example, towards some racist soldiers who mistreated black French soldiers, in the French army. (50)

The death of his brother Robert L. Stanton in 1920, and ensuing personal tragedies, perhaps explain bis lack of interest in continuing his reminiscences. The passage of the 19th Amendment and ultimate sense of elation was probably short-lived. Stanton's brother Robert, who had died months before the final victory, had also published some of the work written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Theodore and Harriot were also dealing with the reality that their mother's memory was now being pushed aside. They were attempting to salvage her reputation for posterity with the publication of Elizabeth Cady Stanton As Revealed in Her Letters Diary and Reminiscences, which was eventually published in 1922. Theodore was becoming equally uncomfortable, along with his brother Gerrit, and sister Harriot Stanton Blatch, with the growing economic recklessness of the 1920's. A mercenary spirit had entered commerce with a growing gulf dividing the wealthy and the poor; history had taught the Stanton family the lessons and repercussions of mixing greed with poverty. As work proceeded on a major renovation and addition to the Rutgers College Library, Theodore Stanton grew ill. He died at the Middlesex Hospital, New Brunswick, New Jersey, on March 1, 1925. (51)

Notes

(1) Gordon, Ann & Patricia Holland, eds. Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, eds.; Microform ed. Stanton to Elizabeth Smith Miller, Feb. 11, 1851; reel 7:36-7. Collection of the Library of Congress. The remainder of the quote" ... with great ease comparatively!!" is an understatement, Theodore in fact was born with a dislocated shoulder; Elisabeth Griffith, in her book In Her Own Right incorrectly identifies Theodore as his brother Daniel (or 'Neil', as he was known to the family, p. 69.) c.f. H.B. Stanton to ECS, Feb. 20, 1851, reel 7. 'Neil,' was to be sent to the Weld School by Mar. I, 1851, at which point he is 9 yrs. of age and quite a problem.

(2) Conway, M.D., Sep. 10, 1900, holograph signed. H.B. Stanton, Random Recollections, 2" & 3" ed., 1886-7. J.R. Young note: Reminiscences, c. 1865-66, Box 21:1515 Wpt.1.

(3) Theodore Stanton Papers: William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), to Theodore Stanton; holograph, signed and dated at Roslyn, Long Island, May 10, 1866, Ip., encl. missing.

(4) Stanton, Gerrit Smith, When the Wildwood was in Flower, J.S. Ogilvie Pub. Co., New York, 1910, pp 14-15. New York Times, 2:6, Aug. 5, 1863. George Smalley defended the building. Elizabeth Cady Stanton identified the asylum " ... on Fifth Avenue was only two blocks away from us." Typescript, Jul., 1863.

(5) Stanton, Henry Brewster, "New-York Custom-House, Letter. .. To Hon. S.P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury." New York Times, 8:1, Nov. 6, 1863. The editors of the New York Times in their obituary of H.B. Stanton, were polite enough to avoid reference to the affair, preferring to highlight Stanton as a leading 'Barnburner' of 1845 and the ultimate political clash, resulting in a warning to Salmon P. Chase: "'Should your name come before the next Republican National Convention as a candidate for President I shall be there. And I shall beat you.' That message cost Mr. Stanton his office." NYT, 2:1, Jan. 15, 1887.

(6) Rice, Arthur Henry B. Stanton "As a Political Abolitionist." Dissertation, collection of Columbia University, New York, 1968, pp.462, 446.

(7) Cornell University, "Vital Statistics," holograph, in the hand of Stanton, no dates for attendance. A Record of the Members of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity.... 1825-1892, A.H. Kellogg, New York, 1892; on p.223 Stanton lists student record as 1866-'68. It appears that Theodore may have been forced to study part-time.

(8) Griffith, Elisabeth, In Her Own Right, the Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Oxford U. Pr., New York, 1984, p.112-events of 1867, p.127, Train, p.186, schism, p.180, May 11, 1869, p. 137.

(9) Record of the Members of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity and a City and Town Directory, A.H. Kellog, New York, 1892 (copy), p.223. Stanton lists his tenure at Cornell University, Vital Statistics, Class of 1876, collection: Rare and Manuscript Collections, Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell U., Ithaca, N.Y.

(10) Theodore Stanton-Personal Souvenirs, no, 1.

(11) Theodore Stanton-Reminiscences, c.1865-6. Mott, Frank L., American Journalism; A History: 1690-1960, Macmillan co., 1962. On p.462, Mott writes of Young " ... headed a [ small newspaper] chain in the early seventies composed of the Philadelphia Evening Star and Abend-Post and the New York Standard." It was Young who first inspired Stanton to focus on the republic of France, sometime in 1865-66, prior to his term as editor of the New York Tribune.

(12) Theodore Stanton-Reminiscences, New York, Sep. 28, 1907: Congressman Charles T. Dunwell recalls Frederick Douglass lecture; Horace Greeley accepts Stanton's offer, on Oct. 18, 1871 and offers choices of lectures: Abraham Lincoln; Wit; or Self made men.

(13) Griffith, p. 160; The Cornellian, 1875-6, pub. Secret Societies of Cornell U., Andrus, McChain & Co., New York, 1876, p.88; Congrès International du Droit des Femmes; Ouvert a Paris, le 25 Juillet 1878, Clos le 9 Août suivant, [Paris, 1878.) Stanton's attendance listed on pp.8-10; text of his speech pp.35-45.

(14) Stanton, Theodore, "Literary Affairs in France," Dial, 60:264, Mar. 16, 1916; "Foreign Correspondent," Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, 51 :750-51, 1892.

(15) For a discussion on the Syndicale de la Press Etrangère see: Robert W. Desmond, The Information Process: World News Reporting to the Twentieth Century, U. of Iowa Pr., 1978, p.311.

(16) Child, Theodore, "Paris Newspaper Press," Fortnightly Review, N.S.38: 149-50, Aug. I, 1885, p.150.

(17) Desmond, ibid, pp. 316-17. Desmond goes on to write: "So far as is known, this is the only instance of a correspondent being executed, by official order until the Nazi government exercised control in Germany during World War II."

(18) Child, op. cit., does not find the feuilleton, any less important than a chronique. Literary articles, were of a broad subject group that could embrace works of fiction, to the size of the novel. Ironically, serialized novels were no stranger to American audiences and the newspaper industry, no medium claimed a monopoly, not even magazines, The 'European Correspondent,' a news syndicate in 1886, included stories from Zola owing to the appetite of the U.S. market.

(19) Blatch, Harriot Stanton & Alma Lutz, Challenging Years, G.P. Putnam Sons, New York, 1940, pp. 49-50; Theodore Stanton-Personal Souvenirs, Nos. 31-46. The entire wedding tour of the United States is completely documented in the aforementioned file.

(20) Stanton, Theodore, "Geneva Peace Congress," New York Tribune, 2:4, Oct. 28, 1881; Record of the members .... , p.223, Stanton listed as Delegate.

(21) Lawson was mostly concerned with affairs of the Western Associated Press, following the 1892 affair, he became a central figure in the founding of the modem Associated Press at the turn of the century.

(22) Bertha, Margaret, "Paris Life," Daily Inter Ocean, 7:6, May 15, 1880. The Daily Galignani Messenger, founded 1814 welcomed Anglo-American journalists. William M. Thackeray (1811-1863) was its most famous British editor. Bertha, op cit.:-Their monopoly was to be challenged with the Parisian, a 'lively paper' that flourished from 1879-1882; the editor Charles Was[s]on's [sic?], with Edward Smith King, were reported to having taken lodgings there.

(23) ECS, 80 Years & More, 33 7-9, 345. For her labor she was awarded with a dousing from another guest at the chateau, mistaken for a braying donkey, just outside her bedroom. A crowning highlight to a vacation that went awry from the onset. On entering France, a handgun accidentally went off, injuring the porter who was holding the Stanton luggage; the affair caused much distress and the full attention of the local authorities, resulting in a fine of 2,000fr. Quite an impression, no doubt, for Theodore's wife Marguerite

(24) Stanton, Theodore, "French Intrigue," Daily Inter Ocean, 5:1, Jul. 15, 1883. He published two other notes: "Paris Anarchists," ibid, 9:4, Apr. 7; "Paris Letter," 9:6, Apr. 21, 1883.

(25) European Correspondent, Nos. 1-37, May 26, 1886-Jun.25, 1887. Collection: Cornell U.-Stanton notes in copy that it continued for a year or two after. In Dec. of 1886, the Paris group came under the auspices of Wason & Co., with management under A Delpierre from May 26, 1886-Mar. 19, 1887, J. Mellet replaced the latter from Mar. 26, 1887 on—the printer for the collection was T. Symonds; the New York agent was W.R. Benjamin. Inter Ocean, ECS 80 Years & More, Schocken Bks, New York, 1971, pp 400-1. The Bibliothèque Nationale, has a Clarence Wason taking care of Child's estate in 1892, Goncourt papers, XXVII, NAF22477.

(26) Chambers, Julius, News Hunting on Three Continents, Mitchell Kennerly, New York, 1921.

(27) Duncan, Bingham, Whitelaw Reid, Journalist, Politician, Diplomat. U. of Georgia Pr., Athens, 1975.

(28) Boughner, Genevieve Jackson, Women in Journalism, D. Appleton and co., New York, 1926, p.282.

(29) One example of Leslie copyright: "Free Thinkers In France," Daily Inter Ocean, 18:1, Oct. 12, 1890, The example for Stanton is dated earlier: "Servants In France," Ibid., 19:1, Sep. 1, 1889. Mrs. Frank Leslie, also copyrights in her own name: "Historic Kisses," Ibid, 28:1, Oct. 19, 1890.

(30) Tebbell, John, Compact History of the American Newspaper, Hawthorn Bks Inc., NY, 1969, p.139. Cornell University, Carl A. Kroch Library, Stanton, Theodore, Class of 1876, Vital Statistics.

(31) Stedman; Elisabeth Griffith, op. cit., pp. 173-4, mistakingly concluded that Stanton and his ten year lecture series at Hobart College implied a permanent return to the U.S. It was in the fall of 1922 when he last re-entered America) never to return to Europe.; "The work of the Comité International Olympique," Revue Olympique, Jan., 1901, citation courtesy of Prof. John Lucas. Robert Stanton was credited with being the publisher in his obituary, New York Times, 11 :4, Feb. 26, 1920.

(32) Snyder, Louis L., The Dreyfus Case; A Documentary History, Rutgers U. Pr., New Brunswick, 1973.

(33) Blowitz, Henri GSAO de Oppert, 1825-1903, Als, 3p., Jan. 9, [1897.] This particular note, confirmed for Stanton, an assertion made by William M. Fullerton, that he acted as translator for de Blowitz's transmissions to London.

(34) Snyder, ibid.

(35) White, Andrew D. to Stanton, From Berlin, Jul. 23, 1901, Tls, 3p. The call was to rally around Theodore's former fiancée, Clara.

(36) Stanton, Theodore-Reminiscences, Sep. 18, 1905. See also Stanton's copies of letters to W.B. Fitts that outline the sharing of office space. The move would have been completed by early 1900.

(37) For H.J. Middleton, d. 1904: Associated Press, 'M.E.S. 'His book, a tribute and a souvenir of the twenty-five years, 1893-1918 ... Melville E. Stone. Harper & Bro., New York, 1918, p.166. See also following note; Gramling, Oliver, AP-The Story of News, Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., New York, 1955.

(38) Lamar Middleton, d. 1910: Mowrer, Paul S., The House of Europe, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1945, p.128. Both Middletons were photographed: Gerschel, A., Cinq semaines à Rennes: deux cents photographies, F. Juven, [1897], pp. 84-5, 140, 169, 173. See also "La Colonie Américaine," Le Figaro, 6-8, May 24, 1902.

(39) Delmas, Leon R. (pseudonym of René de Pont-Jest.); Agoncillo, Felipe; Reinach, Joseph, 1857-1921.

(40) Cambon, Jules, 1900; Trarieux, with Lausel letter, Apr. 10, 1900; AP, M.E.S., ibid, pp. 127-8.

(41) For a continental edition of the NAR, see Andrew D. White to Stanton, Tls, Jul. 23, 1901.

(42) 'Nobel Review', see John Lund, [Jan., 1906.]

(43) International Lit. Bureau, see Booker T. Washington, Tls to Stanton, Jul. 10, 1905 (Stanton's address 9 ave du Trocadero.)

(44) Bibliothequè National, 'Circular Lit. Letter': Havet-NAF 24506:222, Ms correction by T.S., 9 ave du Trocadero added. The Stanton family had moved to 9 rue de Bassano no later than 8/6/'87 and moved again to 9 ave de Trocadero in 1900-- Karl Blind, Apr. 25, 1900. Coincidently, Henry James had written to Stanton in 1903 declining to write on French decadence for the Europeen 'circular.' Unfortunately, he does not mention the name of the editor of the newspaper. See also Henry C. Lodge, refers to the title on Dec. 22, 1903.

(45) Cornell U., ibid, vital statistics, for club note. The Echo de Paris, occupied the ground floor overlooking the Place de l'Opéra et le Théâtre. L 'Européen (L.C. AP20.E9, unreviewed.) Le Correspondant, Quatre-vingtième année., another suspicious title given Stanton's propensity toward the title and variants, Dir., Etienne Lamy, q.v.; sécrétaire de la Rédaction, Edouard Trogan; Admin., Jules Gervais. Rel; philos; pol; hist; sci; ec; soc; b_-av; lit; Beaux -Arts. (31 rue Saint-Guillaume, Paris, 7e.) L'Européen; Courier international hebdomadaire, 24 Rue Dauphine, Paris-VIe. 190?

(46) The Library of Congress have the sheets to the issue, for the want of a better term. Oddly enough it was indexed through the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature.

(47) A number of authors express their view on Villard, in letters from W.H. Denison, H. de Wolf Fuller, W.H. Johnson, Villard.

(48) The Weekly Review, unique copy, Stanton Ms, 1 p. Francis Stanton, Theodore Stanton's grandson, Dec. 20, 1995, confirmed that Helen died of the disease in July 1925.

(49) Rutgers University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, Demarest W.H.S., Jan. 24, 1918.

(50) "Attacking the clubs," New York Times, 6:4, Jul. 15, 1910; "He tore up his application blank," New York Sun, 6:3, same date. Staoton, Theodore, "No Color Line In France," New York Evening Post, 6, Aug. 23, 1919.

(51) New Brunswick Home News, 1:6, Mar. 2, 1925.

(52) The portrait of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, by O.H. Perry, is now a part of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Memorial Collection. Stanton first notices Perry in "Notes from Paris", in the Critic, on Feb. 12, 1898. The painting is based on the Decker photograph captioned: "At the age of seventy". It was first published in the "Eightieth Birthday of Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton", published in Leslie's Weekly, p.349, Nov. 28, 1895.

(53) Blatch, Harriot Stanton to Alexander S. Graham, Apr. 27, 1925. Special Collections and University Archives (SC/UA) A.S. Graham, R-bio (faculty), Box 8.

(54) Roy F. Nichols to A. English, Oct. 20, 1937, introducing Miss Margaret Fuller, Tls, Ip.