Jane Meade Welch

Jane Meade Welch (March 11, 1854 – September 30, 1931) was an American journalist and historian who lectured and wrote on American history. She was the first woman in Buffalo, New York to become a professional journalist, the first American woman to lecture at Cambridge University, and the first American woman whose work was accepted by the British Association. Welch was a pioneer among American women in developing an extensive group of American history lecture courses.

Jane Mead Welch
"A Woman of the Century"
Born	Jane Mead Welch (1854-03-11)March 11, 1854 Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Died	September 30, 1931(1931-09-30) (aged 77)
Resting place	Forest Lawn Cemetery
Occupation	Journalist historian
Language	English
Alma mater	Buffalo Female Academy, Elmira College
Subject	American history

Early life and education

Jane Meade Welch, daughter of Thomas Cary Welch and Maria Allen Meade Welch, was born in Buffalo, New York on March 11, 1854. Of New England ancestry, she was descended from John Alden, Priscilla Alden, and Samuel Seabury.

Welch graduated from Buffalo Female Academy (now Buffalo Seminary) at the age of 16. At Elmira College, she was the best historian of her class, often rising at four o'clock in the morning to study David Hume and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Her studies were interrupted in her sophomore year by an almost fatal illness.

Career

Journalist

Welch was an invalid for two years before she regained her health and became a practical journalist, beginning as a music critic. For a year, she served as a general writer on the Buffalo Express. She next joined the staff of the Buffalo Courier (now Buffalo Courier), writing anonymously. During the 10 years she served at the Courier, Welch worked in a variety of areas, from writing advertisements to pieces on a political leader. She served as society editor and occasional contributor of editorial articles, as well as preparing and conducting a woman's work column. Welch was the first woman in Buffalo to make a career of journalism.

Historian

While working as a journalist, Welch instituted history classes at her home in Buffalo inviting her female friends. The success of these classes induced Welch to devote herself full-time to history. She became a regular lecturer on American history at the Buffalo Seminary, St. Margaret's school, Buffalo; Mrs. Sylvanus Reed's school, New York; The Misses Masters School, Dobbs Ferry, New York; and Ogontz school, Pennsylvania (now Penn State Abington), Cornell University, and the Chautauqua Assembly. In February 1891, she gave a series of six lectures in the Berkeley Lyceum Theater in New York City, on the advice of her friend and former townswoman, Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston. With every lecture, Welch's audience grew in numbers; some of the attendees included Preston, Mrs. William Collins Whitney, Anne Wroe Scollay Curtis, Mrs. Edwin Lawrence Godkin, Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix, President Seth Low of Columbia University, Dorman Bridgman Eaton, and the Rev. Dr. Charles Deems.

Welch was the first American woman to lecture at Cambridge University, and whose work was accepted by the British Association. She was a pioneer among American women in talking about American history in the form of extended lecture courses. Her writings on this topic were voluminous and valuable.

Personal life

Welch traveled extensively in the US, as well as in Great Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. She lived at 514 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo for 30 years.

Jane Meade Welch died in 1931 and was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Selected works

"The Finding of the New World"

• 1885, The city of Buffalo
• 1887, The neighborhood of the international park
• 1894, A finding list

Lectures

• "The Making of the Constitution"
• "The Organization of the Government"
• "The War of 1812"
• "John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson"
• "The Territorial Development of the United States"
• "The Marking of Historic Sites on the Niagara Frontier"
• "The Finding of the New World"

References

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Bailey, M. (1889). The Chautauquan (Public domain ed.). M. Bailey, Publisher.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Eagle, Mary Kavanaugh Oldham (1894). The Congress of Women Held in the Woman's Building, World Columbian Exposition, Chicago, U.S.A., 1893 with Portraits, Biographies, and Addresses ; Published by Authority of the Board of Lady Managers ... (Public domain ed.). S. I. Bell.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Hall, Blakely (1900). Metropolitan. Vol. 11 (Public domain ed.). Blakely Hall.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Illustrated American Publishing Company (1891). The Illustrated American (Public domain ed.). Illustrated American Publishing Company.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Nantucket Historical Association (1907). Proceedings of the Nantucket Historical Association (Public domain ed.).
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1897). "Jane Meade Welch". American Women: Fifteen Hundred Biographies with Over 1,400 Portraits : a Comprehensive Encyclopedia of the Lives and Achievements of American Women During the Nineteenth Century (Public domain ed.). Mast, Crowell & Kirkpatrick. p. 758.

Bibliography

• Western New York Heritage Institute (2005). Western New York Heritage. Western New York Heritage Institute.

External links

• Works related to Woman of the Century/Jane Meade Welch at Wikisource
• Works by or about Jane Meade Welch at the Internet Archive