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Julia Belden Lockwood

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Julia Belden Lockwood
A young white woman with dark hair in an updo, wearing a light-colored dress with a dramatic wide neckline
Julia Belden Lockwood, from the 1901 yearbook of Vassar College
BornJune 30, 1881
Norwalk, Connecticut
DiedJanuary 3, 1976 (age 94)
Pasadena, California
OccupationPhilanthropist
RelativesEliphalet Lockwood (great-grandfather)

Julia Belden Lockwood (June 30, 1881 – January 3, 1976) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was one of the Lockwood family members who donated family heirlooms to create the Norwalk Historical Society Museum.

Early life and education

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Lockwood was from Norwalk, Connecticut, the daughter of Frederick St. John Lockwood and Caroline Ayres Lockwood. Her father, a Yale graduate,[1] was a bank and railroad executive.[2] Her mother attended Troy Female Seminary from 1858 to 1860.[3] Her great-grandfather, Eliphalet Lockwood, was a state legislator. She graduated from Vassar College in 1901.[4]

Lockwood was president of the Vassar Athletic Association,[5] and competed as a college athlete in track, basketball, and tennis.[6][7] She was also an experienced horsewoman. She attended courses at Connecticut Agricultural College in 1912, and Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1914.[8]

Farming

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Lockwood and her partner Mayone Lewis[9] bought a Connecticut farm, Blithefield (or Blythfield), in 1915. They laid out orchards with over 1000 fruit trees, and had fields of corn, rye, buckwheat, turnips, oats, barley, and other crops. They sold tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, cabbage, melons, cucumbers and lima beans during World War I. "If one has a love for animals and for outdoor life generally," she wrote in 1918, "she can certainly find contentment and happiness on the farm."[8]

California and philanthropy

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Lockwood and Lewis toured the Canadian Rockies on horseback, and moved to Pasadena, California together in the 1925.[10] They were both active in women's golf tournaments in the 1920s.[11][12][13] Lockwood was also active in the Pasadena College Woman's Club, and supported the Huntington Library, Descanso Gardens, Pasadena Boys' Club, the YWCA and YMCA, the Sierra Club, and other organizations with her donations.[14] She traveled, and kept journals of her travels.[15]

In 1969, Lockwood and her second cousin Manice deForest Lockwood donated money to create the Norwalk Historical Society Museum, and donated many of the family's possessions to the museum.[16][17][18]

Publications

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  • "The Making of Blithefield Farm” (1918)[8]

Legacy

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Lockwood died in 1976, at the age of 94, in Pasadena.[14] The Julia Belden Lockwood Manuscript Collection at Norwalk Public Library contains her correspondence, photographs, journals, and clippings.[15] The Norwalk Historical Society marked Women's History Month in 2016 with a lecture about Lockwood's life.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Holden, F. A.; Lockwood, J. Colonial and revolutionary history of the Lockwood family in America. Рипол Классик. p. 478. ISBN 978-5-87193-422-7.
  2. ^ "Col. F. St. J. Lockwood Dead; Was Wealthy Railroad Man and Banker of Norwalk, Conn". The New York Times. October 14, 1907. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  3. ^ Fairbanks, Mary Mason (1898). Emma Willard and Her Pupils: Or, Fifty Years of Troy Female Seminary, 1822–1872. Mrs. R. Sage. p. 424.
  4. ^ Vassar College, The Vassarion (1901 yearbook): 46.
  5. ^ "Untitled society item". Minneapolis Daily Times. 1901-02-03. p. 30. Retrieved 2023-12-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Untitled society item". Buffalo Courier Express. 1900-11-20. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-12-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Holds the Record; Springfield Girl Leads at Vassar College". The Boston Globe. 1901-02-23. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-12-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c Lockwood, Julia Belden. "The Making of Blithefield Farm" Vassar Quarterly (February 1918): 115–119.
  9. ^ "Mary Owen Lewis". The Santa Fe New Mexican. 1976-04-29. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-12-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Lewis was listed as "companion" to Lockwood in the 1930 federal census. Lewis also vouched for Lockwood in the latter woman's 1921 passport application, saying they had known each other for 16 years, and lived together at Blithefield; via Ancestry.
  11. ^ "Miss Lockwood Leads on Handicap Golf". Stockton Independent: 6. January 8, 1924 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  12. ^ "Flintridge Team Increases Lead". The Pasadena Post. 1929-01-04. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-12-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Gibson, Blaine (1927-04-28). "Battle for Flintridge Golf Title; Mrs. Bernice Moeller and Julia Lockwood Play Final Match". The Pasadena Post. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-12-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b "Julia Lockwood Rites Planned". Star News. January 7, 1976. p. 33. Retrieved December 20, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  15. ^ a b The Julia Belden Lockwood Manuscript Collection, Norwalk Public Library.
  16. ^ Birgenheier, Janet (1974-03-31). "Norwalk's Lockwood Museum Spans 200 Years of History". The Bridgeport Post. p. 115. Retrieved 2023-12-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Taub, Irving (1969-03-27). "Norwalk is Offered Museum, Heirlooms as Outright Gift/Irving Taub". The Bridgeport Post. p. 64. Retrieved 2023-12-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "$6,000 More to Aid Museum". The Bridgeport Post. 1970-01-09. p. 50. Retrieved 2023-12-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "The Life and Times of Julia Belden Lockwood". The Hour. 2016-02-28. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
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