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Part of the American
History & Genealogy Project |
Women in the Theater
Nellie Brown Pond 1858
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Born May 7, 1858, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Her maiden name
was Nellie Frank Brown. Mrs. Pond stands in the front rank of
the women of America who have made their mark upon the platform.
Her father was Doctor Enoch Brown, an eminent physician of
Springfield, Massachusetts. The family moved to New York City,
where her father died when Mrs. Pond was quite young. Later they
became residents of Boston, and it was here that Mrs. Pond's
dramatic talent became known when through friends she was
induced to become a member of the Park Dramatic Company, and
appeared for the first time as Margaret Elmore in "Love's
Sacrifice," achieving an immediate success. She remained with
the company during that season, her great dramatic talent
securing for her extensive popularity, and winning recognition
from many prominent professionals. Mrs. Thomas Barry, then
leading lady of the Boston Theatre, became greatly interested in
her and through her exertions, Mrs. Pond appeared upon the
Lyceum platform, and for many years she continued her dramatic
readings. In 1880 she became the wife of Ozias W. Pond, of
Boston, the well-known manager of musical and literary
celebrities.
Ellen Spencer Mussey
1850 ~ 1936
Born at Geneva, Ohio, in 1850. Was the daughter of Piatt R.
Spencer, (the author of the Spencerian system of writing,) and
Persis Duty Spencer. She read law in the office of her husband.
General Mussey, whom she married June 14, 1871. She established
the Washington College of Law for Women in 1899. In 1893 she was
first admitted to the bar and practiced law even before her
husband's death. Was counsel for some of the foreign legations,
and several national, patriotic, and labor organizations. She
secured the passage of the bill through Congress giving mothers
in the District of Columbia the same right to their children as
their fathers and giving married women the right to do business
and to control their own earnings, and also an appropriation for
the first public kindergarten in the District of Columbia. She
was one of the founders of the National Red Cross a member of
the Legion of Loyal Women, ex-vice-president-general Daughters
of the American Revolution, and is now a member of the Board of
Education of Washington, District of Columbia.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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