Cornelia Cole Fairbanks
Cornelia " Nellie " Cole Fairbanks (* 1852 in Marysville, Ohio, † October 25, 1913 ) was the wife of Charles W. Fairbanks, who was from 1905 to 1909 the 26th Vice President of the United States. During the tenure of her husband, she held the unofficial position of the Second Lady of the United States. She was at the forefront of the women's suffrage movement and one of the pioneers of the policy for American women in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Early life
Cornelia Cole was born as the daughter of Philander Cole, a state senator from Ohio, and Dorothy Witter. She attended the Ohio Wesleyan Female College, where she graduated in 1872 with a Artium Baccalaureus. In 1874, she married Charles Fairbanks, whom she had met at Ohio Wesleyan University during their work for the school newspaper. They moved to Indiana, where he worked as a lawyer, she supported him in his office, because she encouraged him to go into politics.
Time in Indianapolis and Washington
She was one of the founders of the Fortnightly Literary Club for Women in Indianapolis, whose first she was president 1885-1888. During this period, she also acted in another charity.
While her husband was a U.S. Senator, Cornelia Fairbanks in 1901 elected president of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; in this position she remained for two terms. During her tenure, she helped in the collection of funds for the construction of the Memorial Continental Hall in Washington. She was also active in the George Junior Republic Movement. After her husband had retired from office in 1910, she traveled the world, including a visit to the court of Edward VII in the UK. The clothes that she wore at this event, located in the Smithsonian Institution.
Legacy
Cornelia Fairbanks died in 1913. Situated next to her husband († 1918) is buried in Indianapolis at the Crown Hill Cemetery. It was regarded as a powerful progressive, behind the political scenes, acting, and paved the way for women in leadership positions in the United States. She was considered the equivalent of the female President of the United States through their leadership role in the Daughters of the American Revolution and helped in the formation of the second Women's Club in the United States in Indianapolis, through their work in the national executive committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. She was considered feminine, but was a suffragette and advocate of women's rights. One is reminded of it as a forerunner of the policy for American women in the 20th and 21st centuries. She was in her time one of the most famous women in the United States and is the same as her husband as a clever politician.
Fairbanks was a pioneer of Protestant Christianity and supported the missionary work. In 1899 they organized a trip to Alaska for the British and American Joint High Commission. Fairbanks, the second largest city in Alaska was shortly thereafter, so named in honor of her husband. At her husband's request, the Cornelia Cole Fairbanks Trust Fund was created to establish a treatment center for alcohol addicts. The center in Indianapolis was named The Cole Cornelia Fairbanks Memorial Home.
Marriage and Family
Cornelia and Charles had four sons and one daughter:
- Robert Fairbanks, Yale visited
- Richard M. Fairbanks, attended Yale and served as a captain in World War I.
- Adelaide Fairbanks, married to Dr. Horace Allen
- Charles Warren Fairbanks
- Frederick Cole Fairbanks