Kathleen Burke Hale

Kathleen Burke Peabody McLean Hale (24 October 1887 – 26 November 1958) was a British-American philanthropist and war worker, decorated by seven European nations for her volunteer work during World War I and World War II.

This article is about the British-born American philanthropist. For the American actress, see Kathleen Burke. For the British artist, see Kathleen Hale.

Kathleen Burke Hale
A young white woman wearing a uniform, with medals pinned to the chest
Kathleen Burke, from her 1916 book The White Road to Verdun
Born
Kathleen Burke

24 October 1887
London
Died26 November 1958
New York
Other namesKathleen Burke Peabody
OccupationPhilanthropist
Spouse(s)Frederick Forrest Peabody
John Reginald McLean
Girard Van Barkaloo Hale

Early life

Kathleen Burke was born in London, the daughter of Thomas Francis Burke and Georgina Connolly Burke. Her father was a railway executive.[1] She qualified to study at Oxford, and also studied at the Sorbonne as a young woman.[2]

Career

World War I

Burke was honorary secretary of the London Office of the Scottish Women's Hospitals during World War I. She raised funds and visited hospital units;[3] she was the first woman to enter Verdun.[4] She was decorated by seven European nations for her volunteer activities, including a British Victory Medal and CBE (1918), membership in the French Légion d'honneur, a Serbian Knighthood of Saint Sava, and a Russian Cross of St. George. She was also made an honorary colonel in the United States Army.[5] She met all three of her future husbands during this period.[6][7]

Burke wrote about her war experiences in The White Road to Verdun,[6][8] and gave talks about her war experiences for community groups.[9][10]

Between the wars

With her first husband Burke worked to rebuilt Santa Barbara after its devastating 1925 earthquake; a high school stadium was named in recognition of their work.[6] She was made an honorary member of the local metal workers' union in gratitude for her efforts.[11] She was active in supporting many civic organizations in Santa Barbara, including the hospital, the public library, the Lobero Theatre, the Humane Society,[12] the Junior League and scouting organizations.[13]

World War II and after

Hale and her third husband worked on refugee resettlement in France until the Nazi occupation; then they focused on British war relief efforts.[14] "This is a different kind of war," she told The New York Times in 1940, "but the human needs are the same."[15] After the war, they funded the rebuilding of a French village, Maillé.[16][17][18] Eleanor Roosevelt mentioned their project in her newspaper column, "My Day."[19]

Personal life and legacy
"Solana," Frederick Forrest Peabody house, Eucalyptus Hill Road, Montecito, California. Entrance Drive

Kathleen Burke married three times. Her first husband was manufacturer Frederick Forrest Peabody; they married in 1920[20] and he died in 1927.[6] She was only briefly married to her second husband, John Reginald McKean, in 1929;[21] he died in a car accident nine days after their wedding.[22][23] In 1930 she married her third husband, diplomat Girard Van Barkaloo Hale.[24][25] They lived in Montecito. She died in 1958, a month after her third husband,[26] in New York. There is a large collection of her papers in the Santa Barbara Historical Museum's Gledhill Library.[27]

Her home in Montecito, Villa Solana, became the headquarters of the Fund for the Republic,[28] and its successor, the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions.[6] Her property Eagle Ranch near Atascadero remains a wildlife preserve, administered by the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County.[29] In 2017, "De Santa Barbara à Maillé… les Hale, 1886-1958" was an exhibit about Hale and her third husband, at the historical museum in Maillé.[30]

References
  1. "Mrs. Thomas Burke Dies at Peabody Home". Morning Press. 12 July 1921. p. 2. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  2. Leneman, Leah (2004). "Hale [née Burke; other married names Peabody, McLean], Kathleen (1887–1958), fund-raiser". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63748. Retrieved 21 April 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. "Women Brave Guns to Nurse Wounded". The New York Times. 2 April 1916. p. 5 – via ProQuest.
  4. "Gen. DuBois Her Host in Verdun Tunnels". The New York Times. 8 September 1916. p. 11 – via ProQuest.
  5. "Kathleen Burke's Betrothal Stirs Peninsula Society". San Francisco Call. 31 March 1920. p. 13. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  6. Beresford, Hattie. "Moguls and Mansions" Montecito Journal Magazine (Winter Spring 2008): 40-51.
  7. "Kathleen Burke McLean and Girard Van B. Hale Met at Soissons in 1918". The New York Times. 11 December 1930. p. 4 – via ProQuest.
  8. Burke, Kathleen (1 March 2004). The White Road to Verdun.
  9. "Miss Kathleen Burke Will Talk of Big War". San Francisco Call. 13 April 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  10. "Red Cross War Labor to be Told at Rally". San Francisco Call. 1 May 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  11. "Kathleen Burke Peabody Made Honorary Member of Local Union No. 364, Santa Barbara, Calif". Sheet Metal Workers Journal. 31: 8. January 1926.
  12. "History & Mission". Santa Barbara Humane. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  13. Curletti, Rosario (11 April 1957). "Junior League of Santa Barbara Notes Year of Achievement in Annual Report". The Los Angeles Times. p. 35. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Girard Hales Leave for War Work in East". The San Francisco Examiner. 24 December 1940. p. 17. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Five Women Sail to Assist Allies". The New York Times. 3 March 1940. p. 3 – via ProQuest.
  16. "Maille Gets American Help". The Akron Beacon Journal. 16 November 1947. p. 89. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. Robb, Inez (8 March 1951). "Assignment: America". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 30. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. Robb, Inez (7 September 1949). "Maille Never Realized Life was Tres Bien". Lansing State Journal. p. 10. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, July 12, 1946". The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  20. "F. F. Peabody to Marry Miss Kathleen Burke". San Luis Obispo Tribune. 2 April 1920. p. 3. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  21. "MRS. F.F. PEABODY; Betrothal of Widow Who Won Many Decorations a Romance of World War". The New York Times. 25 February 1929. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  22. "Milestones: Mar. 25, 1929". Time. 25 March 1929. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  23. "McLean Hurt in Crash at Santa Barbara". The New York Times. 11 March 1929. p. 3 – via ProQuest.
  24. "'Angel of France' is Wed to Famous American Painter". The Missoulian. 17 December 1930. p. 1. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. "Artist and Widow in Quiet Wedding". Daily News. 17 December 1930. p. 3. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. "Obituary for Girard Barkaloo Van Hale (Aged 72)". Chicago Tribune. 31 October 1958. p. 31. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. "Hale (Kathleen Burke) Papers". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  28. "Skipping Around". The Des Moines Register. 5 June 1959. p. 2. Retrieved 21 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. Sneed, David (24 March 2016). "Eagle Ranch near Atascadero to preserve 3,255 acres of open space". The Tribune News. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  30. "" From Santa Barbara to Maillé… the Hale, 1886-1958 "". Maison du Souvenir (in French). 12 February 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
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