WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM
April 13, 1927.
My dear Mrs. Olmsted,
The foundation for the scandal at Decatur I think was made clear the last time Lucia Ames Mead was in Chicago. At the final banquet of the National Council of Women she was sitting with other distinguished guests at the speakers table back of which was draped an American flag. When the audience stood to sing the Star Spangled Banner Mrs. Mead and others turning to face the flag had their faces almost against it. At the very last of the anthem she turned partly around to look at the audience to see whether the lady who was to motor her to an evening appointment had arrived. This was interpreted as turning her back on the flag which is, of course, perfectly absurd.
Was not Lucy Biddle Lewis at that same meeting? I am not sure but I have an impression that she was.
[Rosika] Schwimmer was obliged to leave Hungary when the Bolsheviks came into power. She was sent as [ambassador] by Horthy who was in power before ↑Béla Kun↓ and of course was very much opposed to ↑the↓ Bolshevik Government. She was a member of the original board of the W.I.L. and spoke at the first meeting in Washington and was, of course, identified with the International in our earlier days. She was able to get a passport to and from the U.S. and has filed her papers to become an American citizen. If there is anything I can tell you more definitely please let me know.
Faithfully ↑Hastily↓ yours,
Jane Addams [signed]
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