Alice Vanderbilt Morris
Encyclopedia
Alice Vanderbilt Morris (1874-1950), born Alice Vanderbilt Shepard, was a member of the American
Vanderbilt family
. She co-founded the International Auxiliary Language Association
(IALA).
. In 1895 Alice married Dave Hennen Morris (1872-1944), who later became the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium.
Alice was known to her family as "Angela" because of the sweetness of her disposition and the beauty of her face, well-demonstrated by her attached portrait. She was no true angel, however, and climbed a tree against her father's specific interdiction and fell out fracturing her thoracic spine. Her father, a hard man, refused to call the doctor to punish her disobedience. She grew up deformed in a mansion on the Hudson now occupied as the clubhouse of the Sleepy Hollow Country Club.
She was courted for sometime by "Dave" Hennen Morris who saw her face around the funnel of the steamer to France and knew at once that he must marry her. When he pursued her more closely, he saw that she had a deforming scoliosis which did not change his ardor one bit. When he presented himself to ask for her hand in marriage, her father (the hard man), told him he would never amount to anything good and asked him to leave and and have no further contact with the family. When he was allowed to say good-bye to her in the hall, he asked her to elope with him. She climbed out the window that night for an extraordinary life. Her sister later packed up her clothes in a trunk and sent them on by Railway Express. Mr. Shepard was infuriated at the insubordination of yet another daughter and refused to speak to her for a year, as the family story goes.
Their marriage was infertile for about a decade. While posted as Ambassador to Belgium, her husband consulted a Belgian physician who put her in a corset and she bore at least three children, Noel, Lawrence and Alice.
She attended the Radcliffe College
of Harvard University
. She was an honorary member of the Phi Beta Kappa society. She also received an honorary doctorate in Literary Science from Syracuse University
"as special recognition of the field of study that you have made your own, the field of the international auxiliary language
." She was Vice President of the World Service Council of the YWCA
USA.
From her youth, Morris was troubled by ill health and was forced to spend much of her time on a sofa. Despite her illness, she initiated what was probably the most extensive linguistic
research undertaken to date. During her stay at a clinic, Morris found a brochure on the artificial language Esperanto. She became interested in the idea of a neutral auxiliary language that could facilitate communication among diverse groups of people. Frederick Gardner Cottrell
, later a well-known American chemist, persuaded Morris to tackle the problem of an auxiliary language, but objectively and scientifically.
In 1924, Morris and her husband founded the International Auxiliary Language Association
(IALA
). Morris had studied Esperanto, so the neutrality of IALA was often a dilemma for her. Nevertheless, she succeeded in remaining neutral. In 1945, she co-authored with Mary C. Bray the General Report of IALA. Morris was actively involved in the association – and remained its honorary Secretary – for the rest of her life.
Morris died in 1950 in New York. She was 75. About six months later, the Interlingua-English Dictionary was published, presenting to the world her life's work, Interlingua
.
In 1999, Julia S. Falk of Michigan State University published the book Women, Language and Linguistics – Three American Stories from the First Half of the Twentieth Century (320 pp.). The women portrayed were Gladys Amanda Reichard, E. Adelaide Hahn, and Alice Vanderbilt Morris.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Vanderbilt family
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...
. She co-founded the International Auxiliary Language Association
International Auxiliary Language Association
The International Auxiliary Language Association was founded in 1924 to "promote widespread study, discussion and publicity of all questions involved in the establishment of an auxiliary language, together with research and experiment that may hasten such establishment in an intelligent manner and...
(IALA).
Biography
Alice Vanderbilt Shepard was the daughter of Elliot Fitch Shepard (1833-1893); and Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt (1845-1924), a daughter of William Henry VanderbiltWilliam Henry Vanderbilt
William Henry Vanderbilt I was an American businessman and a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family.-Childhood:William Vanderbilt was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1821...
. In 1895 Alice married Dave Hennen Morris (1872-1944), who later became the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium.
Alice was known to her family as "Angela" because of the sweetness of her disposition and the beauty of her face, well-demonstrated by her attached portrait. She was no true angel, however, and climbed a tree against her father's specific interdiction and fell out fracturing her thoracic spine. Her father, a hard man, refused to call the doctor to punish her disobedience. She grew up deformed in a mansion on the Hudson now occupied as the clubhouse of the Sleepy Hollow Country Club.
She was courted for sometime by "Dave" Hennen Morris who saw her face around the funnel of the steamer to France and knew at once that he must marry her. When he pursued her more closely, he saw that she had a deforming scoliosis which did not change his ardor one bit. When he presented himself to ask for her hand in marriage, her father (the hard man), told him he would never amount to anything good and asked him to leave and and have no further contact with the family. When he was allowed to say good-bye to her in the hall, he asked her to elope with him. She climbed out the window that night for an extraordinary life. Her sister later packed up her clothes in a trunk and sent them on by Railway Express. Mr. Shepard was infuriated at the insubordination of yet another daughter and refused to speak to her for a year, as the family story goes.
Their marriage was infertile for about a decade. While posted as Ambassador to Belgium, her husband consulted a Belgian physician who put her in a corset and she bore at least three children, Noel, Lawrence and Alice.
She attended the Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. She was an honorary member of the Phi Beta Kappa society. She also received an honorary doctorate in Literary Science from Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
"as special recognition of the field of study that you have made your own, the field of the international auxiliary language
International auxiliary language
An international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...
." She was Vice President of the World Service Council of the YWCA
YWCA
The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
USA.
From her youth, Morris was troubled by ill health and was forced to spend much of her time on a sofa. Despite her illness, she initiated what was probably the most extensive linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
research undertaken to date. During her stay at a clinic, Morris found a brochure on the artificial language Esperanto. She became interested in the idea of a neutral auxiliary language that could facilitate communication among diverse groups of people. Frederick Gardner Cottrell
Frederick Gardner Cottrell
Frederick Gardner Cottrell was an American physical chemist and inventor. A native of Oakland, California, his immense curiosity gained him notice as a prodigious reader. But his achievements were also an ambitious response to economic necessity...
, later a well-known American chemist, persuaded Morris to tackle the problem of an auxiliary language, but objectively and scientifically.
In 1924, Morris and her husband founded the International Auxiliary Language Association
International Auxiliary Language Association
The International Auxiliary Language Association was founded in 1924 to "promote widespread study, discussion and publicity of all questions involved in the establishment of an auxiliary language, together with research and experiment that may hasten such establishment in an intelligent manner and...
(IALA
IALA
IALA can stand for:*International Association for Learning Alternatives*International Association of Lighthouse Authorities *International Auxiliary Language Association...
). Morris had studied Esperanto, so the neutrality of IALA was often a dilemma for her. Nevertheless, she succeeded in remaining neutral. In 1945, she co-authored with Mary C. Bray the General Report of IALA. Morris was actively involved in the association – and remained its honorary Secretary – for the rest of her life.
Morris died in 1950 in New York. She was 75. About six months later, the Interlingua-English Dictionary was published, presenting to the world her life's work, Interlingua
Interlingua
Interlingua is an international auxiliary language , developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association...
.
In 1999, Julia S. Falk of Michigan State University published the book Women, Language and Linguistics – Three American Stories from the First Half of the Twentieth Century (320 pp.). The women portrayed were Gladys Amanda Reichard, E. Adelaide Hahn, and Alice Vanderbilt Morris.
See also
- InterlinguaInterlinguaInterlingua is an international auxiliary language , developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association...
- International Auxiliary Language AssociationInternational Auxiliary Language AssociationThe International Auxiliary Language Association was founded in 1924 to "promote widespread study, discussion and publicity of all questions involved in the establishment of an auxiliary language, together with research and experiment that may hasten such establishment in an intelligent manner and...
External links
- Oil Portrait of Alice as a girl of 13, painted by John Singer Sargent
- Oil Portrait of her mother Margaret, also painted by Sargent
- Bust of her father Elliot, sculpted by John Adams Quincy Ward
- Union Mundial pro Interlingua