Alice Gram Robinson

Alice M. Gram Robinson (March 16, 1895 – January 24, 1984)[1] was an American suffragist, journalist, and editor. She was the founder, editor, publisher, and longtime president of the Congressional Digest.

This article is about the American suffragist and editor. For the New Zealand skier, see Alice Robinson.
Alice Gram Robinson
A young white woman with dark hair, wearing a cloche-style light-colored hat and a loose dress with a scooped neckline
Alice Gram Robinson, from her 1923 passport application
BornMarch 16, 1895
Omaha, Nebraska
DiedJanuary 24, 1984 (aged 88)
Warrenton, Virginia
Occupation(s)Suffragist, journalist, editor
RelativesBetty Gram Swing (sister); Raymond Gram Swing (brother-in-law)

Early life and education

Alice M. Gram was born in Omaha, Nebraska and raised in Oregon, the daughter of Andreas (Andrew) Peter Gram and Karen (Carrie) Jensen. Her parents were immigrants from Denmark. Her older sister Betty Gram Swing was a suffragist.[2][3] She and her sister both attended the University of Oregon,[4] and both were members of Kappa Alpha Theta.[5]

Career

Gram was a student in 1917 when she traveled to Washington, D.C. as a member of the College Equal Suffrage League, and was arrested for obstructing traffic while carrying a banner at a National Woman's Party Silent Sentinels demonstration.[6] She and her sister both served more than a week at Occoquan Workhouse,[7] before they were pardoned by President Woodrow Wilson.[8] Gram stayed in Washington, first working for the National Woman's Party, and in 1919 as one of the co-founders of the Women's National Press Club, along with Cora Rigby, Carolyn Vance Bell, Elizabeth King, Florence Brewer Boeckel, and Eleanor Nelson.[9][10]

Gram founded The Capitol Eye (soon retitled Congressional Digest) in 1921, initially to help new women voters understand legislative issues by presenting arguments regarding bills dealing with public health and education in a side-by-side, pro/con format.[11][12] She was president of the Congressional Digest until 1983, when her son took over the publication.[13] In 1928 she was director of the Women's Division of the Republican National Committee.[14]

Personal life

Gram married fellow journalist Norbonne T. Robinson Jr. in 1922, and had a son, Norbonne III. The Robinsons divorced in 1945, and her ex-husband died in 1947.[15] She died from cancer in 1984, in Warrenton, Virginia, at the age of 88.[16] There is a small collection of her papers at the Schlesinger Library.[14]

References
  1. Some sources give her birth year as 1896; the dates given here are from her Virginia death certificate, registered 31 Jan 1984, via Ancestry; her birth month was also given as March 1895 in the 1900 United States census manuscript returns, via Ancestry. Her gravestone also gives 1895 as the year.
  2. "Oregon Women Protest for Suffrage". Oregon Women’s History Consortium. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  3. "Mrs. Betty Gram Swing Dies; Women's Rights Campaigner". The Bridgeport Post. 1969-09-04. p. 69. Retrieved 2023-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "What Society is Doing". The Oregon Daily Journal. 1917-11-18. p. 34. Retrieved 2023-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Pratt, Katie. "Biographical Sketch of Alice Gram Robinson". Alexander Street Documents. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  6. "Forty-One Women Are Arrested for Picketing Wilson; Two Miss Grams of Portland Among Publicity Seekers for Women's Party at the White House". The Oregon Daily Journal. 1917-11-11. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Mrs. Gram Blames Party Missionaries for Plight of Girls". The Oregon Daily Journal. 1917-11-11. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Perry, Douglas (2022-04-11). "Portland's Gram sisters went to jail together as militant suffragists, then their paths diverged". Oregon Live. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  9. Klein, Gil. "NPC in History: Gram Robinson, women’s suffrage and the Women’s National Press Club" The National Press Club (August 19, 2020).
  10. Reliable Sources: The National Press Club in the American Century. Turner Publishing Company. 1997. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-56311-375-8.
  11. Adams, Katherine H.; Keene, Michael L. (2014-01-10). After the Vote Was Won: The Later Achievements of Fifteen Suffragists. McFarland. pp. 100–103. ISBN 978-0-7864-5647-5.
  12. "A Statement by the Editors". The Capital Eye. 1 (1): 2. November 1921.
  13. "Norborne T.N. Robinson III, editor, publisher". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  14. "Collection: Papers of Alice Gram Robinson, 1917-1968, 1999". Schlesinger Library. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  15. "N. T. N. Robinson, 71, Dies; Once Edited Congressional Digest". Evening Star. 1947-06-29. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-03-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Publisher, Writer Alice G. Robinson Dies in Va. at 88". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
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