Background
Emma was born on May 15, 1872 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States, the daughter of Charles Lukens Bailey, an ironmaster, and of Emma Harriet Doll.
(This is a new release of the original 1929 edition.)
This is a new release of the original 1929 edition.
https://www.amazon.com/Mabel-Cratty-Leader-Art-Leadership/dp/1494064499?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1494064499
Emma was born on May 15, 1872 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States, the daughter of Charles Lukens Bailey, an ironmaster, and of Emma Harriet Doll.
Raised in comfortable circumstances, she was tutored at home and subsequently attended Miss Stevens School in Philadelphia. She then studied at Bryn Mawr College for two years (1888 - 1890).
Between 1898 and 1910 Speer simultaneously was active as a Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) volunteer. In 1906 she became a charter member of its National Board, and in 1908 she chaired the association's student department. When summoned to the presidency of the National Board of the YWCA in 1915, the unduly modest Speer overcame her misgivings about her lack of preparation for the position.
During World War I, the National Board established the War Work Council, which sent hundreds of its professional staff overseas for emergency war service and administered a war-related budget totaling millions of dollars. Soon after the United States entered the conflict, Speer wrote an article for the Ladies' Home Journal in which she called upon American women living near military training camps to organize entertainment for soldiers far from home.
The young women of the 1920's were faced with opportunities and challenges unknown to their mothers. Under Speer's leadership the YWCA helped young women cope with a changing world by providing residences, recreation, practical education, and camaraderie.
In 1919 the YWCA convened the first International Conference of Women Physicians and organized the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs.
Following her retirement, Speer was named honorary president of the National Board. After stepping down as president, Speer was still active in the YWCA. She served on seven committees during the 1930's, three in the 1940's, and was vice-chairman of the World Service Council until 1950.
Although confined to a wheelchair by 1953, she continued to write articles until 1957. She spent her last years at Lakeville, Connecticut, and died at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
(This is a new release of the original 1929 edition.)
Speer devoted herself to the cause of young women, particularly those who moved to cities in search of employment. Speer viewed the YWCA as an instrument for transmitting standards and values previously inculcated in the family.
Having marched with the suffragists, she subscribed to the theory that women were the equal of men and were entitled not only to outward courtesies, which she termed "charming gestures, " but also to being taken seriously.
On sexual matters Speer steered a middle course between Victorian and Freudian attitudes. She emphasized the importance of both the physical and the spiritual aspects of marriage.
Quotations:
"Nothing is impossible until it is tried, " she wrote.
She trusted in God to "make up through His infinite resources for my infinite lack. "
She pointed out that "notions of girls derived from Louisa M. Alcott are out of date. "
"All we want is a chance to contribute our share to the general sum of experience and the good life, " she said in 1928.
Described by the Christian Herald as "mother to 500, 000, " Speer believed that the American girl was "one of the best products of the race. "
On April 20, 1893, Emma married Robert Elliott Speer, she accompanied her husband on a round-the-world trip to visit missions. Between 1898 and 1910 Speer had five children.