Coonley-Ward, Lydia Arms Avery (1845-1924)

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Item Relations

Mentioned in (9)
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Jane Addams to Mary Rozet Smith, May 3, 1902

Edward L. Burchard to Jane Addams, January 16, 1907

List of Hull-House Donors, March 18, 1910

Waldo Ralph Browne to Jane Addams, August 10, 1910

Waldo Ralph Browne to Mary Rozet Smith, August 10, 1910

Waldo Ralph Browne to Louise de Koven Bowen, August 10, 1910

Address of Miss Jane Addams at the Funeral of Mary Jane Hawes Wilmarth, August 30, 1919

Eulogy for Mary Jane Wilmarth, October 8, 1919

Address on Anna Howard Shaw, November 13, 1919

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Birth Date

1845-01-31

Death Date

1924-02-26

Birthplace

Lynchburg, Virginia

Biographical Text

Lydia Arms Avery Coonley-Ward was born to a wealthy family and became an heiress of the Avery Plow Works fortune, Coonley-Ward was an author and a poet, having written "Indian Summer," "Under the Pines" and many other poems, under the name Lois Catesby. From 1895 to 1896 she was the president of the Chicago Women's Club. She helped fund Henry Augustus Ward's scientific research until his death in 1906. She was a member of many different social, literary, and cultural societies, such as the Cordon Society, Society of Midland Authors, the Fortnightly, and the Little Room. Coonley-Ward also opened her home as a summer school for aspiring artists and teachers.

Coonley-Ward married John Clark Coonley in 1867. They had six children. After Coonley's death, Lydia remarried Henry Augustus Ward in 1897. Coonley-Ward died in 1924.

Occupation

Author

Poet

Women's rights activist

Source

Picture: Chicago Tribune, February 10, 1907, p. 55.

Collection

People

Map

Edited By

Lichon, Sara Catherine

Rights

Public domain

Gender

Female

First appears

1907

Bibliography and Links

"Avery Coonley Residence," The Wright Library

Barbara Pitlick Lovenheim, "Lydia Coonley-Ward," in Women Building Chicago 1790-1990: A Biographical Dictionary, ed. Rima Lunin Schultz and Adele Hast (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2001): 183-5.

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Citation

“Coonley-Ward, Lydia Arms Avery (1845-1924),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed May 18, 2024, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/1797.