Elsie Lincoln Benedict facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elsie Lincoln (Vandergrift) Benedict
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| Born | November 2, 1885 |
| Died | February 5, 1970 (aged 84) |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery (Glendale)[1] |
| Known for | Founding the International Opportunity League, Benedict School of Opportunity, organizer for National American Woman Suffrage Association |
| Spouse(s) | Ralph Paine Benedict (died 1941) |
| Children | Anthony ("Elson") Gorman Benedict (died 1987), |
| Parent(s) | William Vandergrift Adella (Allen) Vandergrift |
Elsie Lincoln (Vandergrift) Benedict (1885–1970) was advertised as the best-known women's speaker during the 1920s, speaking to over 3 million people in her lifetime and writing on what Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie and a long list of men would do later. She was an American suffragist leader representing the State of Colorado for the Women's Right to Vote and later recruited by Carrie Chapman Catt to be the second highest-paid women's suffragist leader to take to the national scene. She promoted the law of attraction through her many worldwide lectures. She was the founder of Brainology, a famous course on scientific mind training.
Early life and education
Benedict was born on November 1, 1885, in Osborne, Kansas to William and Adella (Allen) Vandergrift. She was a student at Denver University, Denver, Colorado between 1905 and 1907; Columbia University, Chicago, Illinois; Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts specializing in psychology and anthropology. In 1914, married Ralph Paine Benedict, of Boston, Massachusetts, a Harvard graduate. Formerly writer for Denver Evening Post and other newspapers, Chautauqua lecturer, an organizer for National American Woman Suffrage Association, Founder 1918 Benedict School of Opportunity (lecture and correspondent courses), headquarters in New York and San Francisco, Member National Association of Pen Women, National Association Business and Professional Women, Author.
During her college career, she held over 12 gold medals for oratory. She was the first woman to win a place in an intercollegiate debate team.
Career
In 1909, Colorado Governor John F. Shafroth appointed her the official reporter of the Colorado Senate. After serving this capacity for three years, she was appointed Chief of the Advertising Department of the State Land Office. In 1913, she resigned to become a political editor of the Denver Press and later of the Denver Post, the largest daily in Colorado at the time. She married her husband, Ralph Paine Benedict, on November 1, 1914, by Judge Ben B. Lindsey of Colorado. Progressive Judge Ben Lindsey wrote of Mrs. Benedict's speaking efforts on woman's suffrage, "Mrs. Benedict is one of the best known of our progressive Denver woman. She has held positions of trust and responsibility and for several years has been on the editorial staff of leading Denver newspapers in the most important capacities. She is one of the real genuine women of Denver, who has always stood for right and justice."
