Mabel Thorp Boardman

death_place = Washington D.C.
spouse =
occupation = Philanthropist
nationality = United States

Mabel Thorp Boardman (October 12, 1860 - March 17, 1946) was an American philanthropist involved with the American Red Cross. She led the Red Cross in the United States following its receiving congressional charter in 1905 until World War I, however she did not take up the post of chairman since she believed the organisation would lose credibility with the public.

Personal life

Boardman was from a well-to-do family. Her father, William Jarvis Boardman (15 April 1832 - 2 August 1915), a lawyer and active in politics, was the grandson of the Senator Elijah Boardman. Her mother, Florence Sheffield, was the granddaughter of Joseph Earl Sheffield, was a major benefactor of Yale University. She had 5 siblings, including Josephine Porter Boardman Crane. The family moved from Ohio to Washington, D.C. in 1887-8, although they maintained connections to Ohio politics including a friendship with the Taft family.

Public Life

As a socialite she devoted time to many philanthropies. During the Spanish-American War in 1898 she was active in recruiting nurses. In 1901 she was elected to the Executive Board of the American Red Cross and subsequently led the faction that ousted Clara Barton from the presidency of the organization in 1904.

In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Boardman to be the first woman member of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

From 1923 until 1944, Boardman served as the Director of the Red Cross's Volunteer Service and overseeing its considerable expansion.

Published Work

* Boardman, Mabel T. "Under the Red Cross Flag at Home and Abroad" Philadelphia: J. B.Lippincott (1915)

External links

* [http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/leaders.asp American Red Cross Museum]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms006042 Mabel Thorp Boardman, A Register of Her Papers in the Library of Congress]
* [http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=BWJ1 Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Boardman, William Jarvis]