Background
Alva Belmont was born on January 17, 1853, at Mobile, Alabama, the second daughter and one of nine children of Murray Forbes and Phoebe Ann (Desha) Smith. Her father was a cotton planter.
Alva Belmont was born on January 17, 1853, at Mobile, Alabama, the second daughter and one of nine children of Murray Forbes and Phoebe Ann (Desha) Smith. Her father was a cotton planter.
Alva and her two sisters were educated at private schools in France.
On a visit to the wealthy Oelrichs family in New York, Alva met William Kissam Vanderbilt and they fell in love. His family were opposed to the match, but he won them over, and the couple were married on April 20, 1875. The Vanderbilts were not in the inner circle, the "Four Hundred" of New York society, then ruled more or less autocratically by Mrs. William Astor, and the new Mrs. Vanderbilt set about winning a foothold there. She coached her husband in his strategy, while her own plans included the ordering of the architect, Richard Morris Hunt, to design a Fifth Avenue mansion of the French château type, costing $3, 000, 000. This was completed in 1881. At the wedding that year of Vanderbilt's sister Leila to W. Seward Webb, Roosevelts and Iselins attended, and Ward McAllister, then a social arbiter, yielded to the extent of inviting the W. K. Vanderbilts to the Patriarchs Ball; but Mrs. Astor remained adamant and refused to call on Mrs. Vanderbilt.
In 1883 Alva let it be known that she intended giving a masquerade ball in the new mansion which would surpass all previous affairs in society's history. Just before invitations were issued, she revealed that she could not invite the Astors because Mrs. Astor had never called upon her. Mrs. Astor called immediately, and the Vanderbilt footing in society was secure. There were 1, 200 guests at that ball, and it was regarded as a milestone in social history.
Vanderbilt now commissioned Hunt to build, as a birthday gift to his wife, a mansion at Newport, Rhode Island, then the chief summer resort of the élite of New York. This magnificent structure, known as Marble House, cost $2, 000, 000 to build, while its furnishings, tapestries, and sculpture represented an investment of $9, 000, 000. Its exterior was of Carrara marble, and the grounds were surrounded by a marble wall. There Mrs. Vanderbilt entertained lavishly and completed her conquest of society.
In 1893 she and her husband started on a world tour in their yacht, accompanied by several friends, among whom was Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont. From Bombay the Vanderbilts suddenly returned to Paris, and she presently filed suit for divorce. It was granted in 1895, Mrs. Vanderbilt receiving $100, 000 a year as alimony, the ownership of Marble House, and the custody of her three children. She brought the Duke of Marlborough to Marble House as a guest and arranged a marriage between him and her daughter Consuelo. The latter, in filing suit for annulment some years later, claimed that she had been forced into the marriage - which took place when she was only seventeen - and was in love with an American at the time. Nevertheless, the wedding took place in 1895, shortly after her mother's divorce.
In 1896 Mrs. Vanderbilt was married to O. H. P. Belmont. As both were divorced persons, the Episcopal Church would not countenance the ceremony and it was performed by Mayor Strong of New York City. Belmont died in 1908, and Mrs. Belmont then became interested in woman's suffrage and gave up much of her social activity. She went abroad to learn of the movement from Christabel Pankhurst, brought the latter to America, and appeared with her on speaking tours, allying herself with Alice Paul and the more militant suffragettes. Her houses in New York and Newport were always open to suffrage meetings. She spoke in women's meetings, high schools, before women factory workers, and even in men's clubs. She wrote a suffragette operetta, Melinda and Her Sisters, with music by Elsa Maxwell, which was presented at the Waldorf-Astoria in 1916 with Marie Dressler, Marie Doro, and other celebrities in the cast.
Elected president of the National Woman's party after her sex had won the ballot in 1920, she held the office until her death. She gave the party a mansion and grounds in Washington valued at $100, 000. She also founded the Political Equality League and enabled it to serve at its New York headquarters meals at low prices to workingmen. Among her other beneficences were a gift of $100, 000 to Nassau Hospital at Mineola, Long Island, and the Seaside Home for Sick Children, which she gave to Trinity Church in New York. The bishop of the diocese objected to her serving as president of the latter because she was a divorced woman, and she withdrew from the office.
On Sands Point, Long Island, she built a mansion in her favorite French Gothic style, and in 1924 paid the Government $100, 000 for an abandoned lighthouse adjoining the property, to enable her to shut out sight-seers. She built the chapel in Woodlawn Cemetery, New York, where she and Belmont were buried, and designed a beautiful Chinese teahouse on the property at Newport. After 1924 she spent much of her time in France, where she bought a fifteenth-century château and spent some of her latter years in restoring it, meanwhile playing Lady Bountiful to the neighboring peasants and directing the National Woman's party in America by deputy. She lived to see a great-grandson christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and stood as godparent to the infant, along with King George V. She died in Paris.
Alva Belmont was a well-known multimillionaire socialite of her time. Alva was known for her many building projects, including Petit Chateau in New York; the Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island; the Belmont House, also in New York; Brookholt in Long Island; and Beacon Towers in Sands Point, New York. Alva also was a major figure in the American women's suffrage movement. She served as president of the National Woman's party from 1920 to 1933. Being a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, she founded the Political Equality League. Alva contributed $100, 000 to Nassau Hospital at Mineola, Long Island, and the Seaside Home for Sick Children, which she gave to Trinity Church in New York.
Quotations:
"Just pray to God. She will help you. "
"First marry for money, then marry for love. "
Alva Belmont was president of the National Woman's party; a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and the American Institute of Architects.
Alva was known for having an aristocratic manner that antagonized some people, she was also noted for her energy, intelligence, strong opinions, and willingness to challenge convention.
Alva's first husband was wealthy William Kissam Vanderbilt. They were of opposite temperaments and the marriage was unhappy, though they had three children. Alva divorced Vanderbilt and married Oliver H. P. Belmont in 1896.
He was a cotton planter.
