Olmsted, Mildred Scott (1890–1990)

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Olmsted, Mildred Scott (1890–1990)

American peace activist. Born Mildred Scott, Dec 5, 1890, in Glenolden, PA; died July 2, 1990; attended Friends' Central School; graduate of Smith College, 1912; m. Allen Olmsted, 1921; children: 1; (adopted) 2.

Went to France with YMCA to organize recreation for soldiers at the Sorbonne (1913); joined the German Unit of the American Friends Service Committee in Berlin (1920); became executive secretary of the PA branch of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF, 1922), then national secretary (1934–64), with title changed to national executive director (1964–66); was also an early leader in the birth-control movement.

See also Margaret Hope Bacon, One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom (Syracuse U. Press, 1992).