# Representative women of New England/Alice E. W. Whitaker

​ALICE E. WELD WHITAKER, first president of the Boston Woman's Press Club (organized in February, 1903), was born at Southbridge, Mass., in November, 1851, being a daughter of Charles Winthrop and Lucinda (Richardson) Weld. She is a direct descendant of Captain Joseph Weld, who figured prominently in the early history of Roxbury. She also traces her ancestry along other lines to early settlers of Boston. Mrs. Whitaker early manifested a liking for domestic science, both practical and theoretical, and also for newspaper work. Opportunities enabled her to gratify and develop her natural tastes. Her life work has been therefore along these dual lines, which have admirably supplemented and assisted each other, strength and experience gained in one having increased her ability and usefulness m the other. In this way she has become well known as a newspaper worker and a recognized authority on much that relates to domestic life, from cooking and sanitation to the artistic use of the needle and brush. Her early education included the regular courses at the high school in her native town and at Nichols Academy, Dudley.
Mrs. Whitaker's newspaper work began soon after her marriage to George M. Whitaker, A.M., in 1872. For sixteen years she edited a page of the Southbridge Journal, devoted to women's interests. This department was conducted with such ability that it soon won more than a local reputation, and gave the Journal a standing as mone than a mere purveyor of town items. For a year she was the sole editor of the paper.
In 1886 Mrs. Whitaker removed to Boston and took a prominent position on the New England Farmer, of which she edited a page devoted to women's interests until July, 1903. This was a strong feature of the paper, and added much to its popularity. Her editorials were frequently quoted in other publications. In addition to this technical writing and edit​ing she did considerable all-round work on the New England Farmer, at times being responsible for the editing of the whole paper. Further than this, she has done much work for other publications. For two years she edited the Health Magazine, which was a marked success under her management. For several years she has written a daily article on cookery for a syndicate of daily papers; for a portion of the time this was illustrated. She has also done much miscellaneous literary work, and has been a frequent contributor to various other periodicals. She was one of the earliest members of the New England Woman^s Press Association, in which she has held all offices except the presidency, and she has been frequently urged to take that. Her services are in frequent demand on different important committees of the association. She represented it one year at the convention of the International League of Press Clubs, and has four times been a delegate to the National Editorial Association, having twice responded to invitations to prepare papers for its programmes.
Mrs. Whitaker was invited to prepare a paper for the World's Fair Press Congress in Chicago in 1893 on "Three Quarters of a Century in Agricultural Journalism." This paper was received with much approbation. She was also selected for a similar congress at the exposition at Atlanta.
Her writings have always been popular because they are based on actual experience, and because they eliminate the purely imaginative or what is merely theoretical. "If Mrs. Whitaker said so, it is so" is a frequent comment about articles which appear over her name. Her style is marked by clearness, vigor, and terseness. Her meaning is always evident, and no words are wasted in getting at it. This is a great desideratum in newspaper work. Mrs. Whitaker's prominence as a writer and authority on domestic topics has created a demand for her services in a number of directions growing out of, but allied to, her special work. She was at one time employed by the Bay State Agricultural Society to organize a series of travelling cooking-schools in country towns. She planned and successfully managed a Household Institute in connection with the great Food Fair in Boston in 1897. She is frequently in demand as an expert judge at fairs.
Although Mrs. Whitaker's chief claim to prominence is in her newspaper work, she is well known as a club woman. The many brilliant functions of the New England Woman's Press Association always give prominence to its officers, and this prominence has been emphasized in her case by the many years that she has been officially connected with the association. She was a leading spirit in the organization of the Winthrop Woman's Club and its first president. Her experience and executive ability did much to start it on a sound basis and to give it a recognized standing among sister clubs. On her resignation she was elected an honorary life member. She was also a member of the Cooking Teachers' Club during its existence, and was one of the charter members of the Boston Business League. She served the League as secretary and treasurer, and was elected an honorary member. For several years she has been a member of the Arts and Crafts Committee of the State Federation of Women's Clubs.
She is the mother of two daughters: Lillian, who is now living; and Ethel, who died at the age of twenty-three. Ethel Whitaker Was an artist of rare promise, who had already won a recognized position in art and been much complimented as an exhibitor at the exhibitions of the Boston Art Club and others of equal standing. She was a co-worker with her mother, whose work she illustrated in different daily and other publications. Her premature death was acknowledged by the critics to be a loss to the art world.