Josephine Shaw Lowell

Josephine Shaw Lowell (December 16, 1843 - October 12, 1905) was a leader in progressive reform in the United States in the 19th century. She is known for founding the New York Consumers League in 1890. Born in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, into a well-to-do New England family, Lowell married Charles Russell Lowell in 1863. Widowed young, she returned to Staten Island and became an entrepreneur and reformer. She served as the vice president of the Anti-Imperialist League and advocated for the independence of the Philippines. Committed to social justice, Lowell championed progressive reform and the eradication of poverty. However, some of her views on the poor sparked controversy, even proposing drastic measures. She was the first female commissioner on the New York State Board of Charities in 1876 and contributed to establishing the state custody asylum for women with mental disabilities in 1878. Moreover, she founded several charitable organizations, including the New York Charity Organization (1882), the House of Refuge for Women (1886), the Woman's Municipal League (1894), and the Civil Service Reform Association of New York State (1895). Her most notable initiative was the New York Consumers' League in 1890, which aimed to improve wages and working conditions for female workers in the city. Josephine Shaw Lowell died in 1905 from cancer. Her legacy endures, and the Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain in Bryant Park, New York, dedicated in 1912, is considered the city's first public memorial dedicated to a woman. She rests alongside her husband in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.