Ida B. Wise
Ida B. Wise (July 3, 1871–February 16, 1952)[1] was the primary author of the Sheppard Bill in 1916 that imposed prohibition on Washington, D.C.
Wise was born in Philadelphia, PA and raised in Hamburg, Iowa.[2] She graduated from the University of Nebraska and taught for fourteen years.[2]
Wise joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1891.[1] By 1900, she was a district president in the Iowa WTCU.[1] In 1913, she became president of the Iowa Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).[1] She served as president of the Iowa WCTU for 20 years In 1930 before becoming president of the national WCTU.[3]
President Herbert Hoover appointed her to the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection.[3] In 1940, Wise was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt to the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy.[3]
Wise married twice. In 1889, she married James A. Wise.[2] The couple had one son who lived to adulthood. After the death of her first husband in 1892, Wise married Malcolm Smith in 1912.[2] She is known as both Ida B. Wise and Ida B. Wise Smith.
A member of the Disciples of Christ, Wise taught Sunday school from the age of 12.[1] In 1923, she was ordained as a minister, but she never served as a pastor to a congregation.[1]
Although Wise's primary cause was temperance, she also supported women's suffrage and child welfare work.[2]
Wise was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1977.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hudson, David; Bergman, Marvin; Horton, Loren (2009-05-01). The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa. University of Iowa Press. ISBN 9781587297243.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada. American Commonwealth Company. 1914-01-01. ISBN 9780810340183.
- 1 2 3 4 "Ida B. Wise Smith | Iowa Department of Human Rights". humanrights.iowa.gov. Retrieved 2017-04-08.