Evening star., 1952-02-13
Mrs. Hamilton WrioIll
Dies; World Leader
In Narcotics Control

Mrs. Hamilton Wright. rs, one
lof the worlds most distinguished
leaders In the field OF national
and international narcotics con-
troll. died Monday in Emergency
Hospital, following a stroke.
The ''pre-eminence and unfiag-
ging zeal'' of Mrs. Wright will
make her loss in the fight against
dope 'irreplaceable. !" Federal Mar
Ecotics Commissioner Harry j.
IAnslinger said.
Mrs. Wright, he said. was among
those directly responsible for the
Boggs Act. recently passed by
Congress, which places heavy
penalties on any one found guilty
|of peddling dope.
Pushed Early Measures.
Mrs. Wright and her husband
were largely responsible for the
first narcotics control act, the
Harrison Act Of 1914, and she
sponsored the legislation creating
the Narcotics Bureau in 1880, as
well as laws controlling narcotics
import and export, marijuana
land synthetic drugs.
The first American woman to
be given plenipotentiary powers
las diplomat, Mrs. Wright was
appointed by President Coolidge
las American delegate to the Inter-
national Conference of Opium in
Geneva. She had been strong
worker for all international mar
|cotics treaties since The Hague
conference on opium production
Limitation of 1912, now signed by
67 nations.
Mrs. Wright carried on the work
Iof her husband, the late DR..
Hamilton Wright, Scientist-diplo-
mat. who pioneered research in
nerve diseases, notably berri- -berri,
and in the control of narcotics.
DR.. Wright, who died in 1917,
drafted the Harrison Act and had
been delegate to the first inter-
national opium conference, held
in Shanghai in 1909, as well as
to The Hague meeting.
OF Colonial Lineage.
Born in Minneapolis, Mimi, of
distinguished Colonial lineage,
Mrs. Wright was the former Eliz-
abeth Washburn, daughter of Will
liam Drew Washburn, Representa-
tive and Senator from Minnesota
and an industrialist who founded
the 500 Line Railroad. He was
one of seven Washburn brothers
who served in Congress at the
same time.
Mrs. Wright was educated in
private schools here and abroad
and at Radcliffe College. She had
been a Washington resident since
1880. She had Travelled widely,
first with her father and then
her husband, and had made 81
Atlantic and eight Pacific cross
ings. She and DR.. Wright lived
for several years in Malaga.
She was a Colonial Dame, a
member OF the Republican
Women's Club and of the Chevy
Chase Club here. Her home was
|at 1868 Waterside drive NV.
Four Children Survive.
A daughter of Mrs. Wright
Rosalind Washburn Wright, died
in 1949. Two sons and two other
daughters survive. They are
Hamilton w. Wright of Gates
Mil. Ohio; Washburn Wright of
Bloomfield Hills, Mich, Miss Bar
bara Wright of the Waterside
drive address and Lady Leslie
Macfarlane Reid, wife of Air Vice
Marshal Sir Ranald Macfarlane
Reid. former air attache here and
recently named a Gentleman
Usher to King George VI of
Britain.
Mrs. Wright is also survived by
a brother, Cadwallader Washburn.
an artist who lives at the WASH
burn home in Livermore Me
another brother. Col. Stanley
Wright, war correspondent and
military historian, died last year.
Funeral services will be held at
. pm. Friday in the Bethlehem
Chapel Of Washington Cathedral.
Burial will be in the family ceme-
terry lot at Livermore, Me.