I have been enjoying the Women in History (WIH) series of caches over the past years. A fellow cacher suggested that I look at a couple of notable women who had lived in my hometown of Hancock NH.
Thelma Babbitt was of particular interest to me because as a Hancock resident who loves the outdoors, I am becoming actively involved with the Harris Center, which is discussed in the short biography below. A link to it is included, and if you look at their trail system, you will find that there is a Thelma Babbitt Trail. It does a 1.4 mile loop around the Thelma Babbitt Conservation Land surrounding the Babbitt home.
Thelma Wright Babbitt (October 9, 1906 – February 18, 2004) was an American civil rights and environmental activist, best known for her work with the League of Women Voters and the American Friends Service Committee in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the Sierra Club and the Harris Center in the 1970s and later.
Early life
Thelma Wright was born in Natick, Massachusetts, the daughter of George R. Wright and Bertha Wright. Her father was an electrical contractor. She graduated from Chandler Secretarial School in Boston in 1928.
Babbitt was a delegate to the Congress of the International Alliance of Women, held in Amsterdam in 1949. She was active as vice president of the Cambridge, Massachusetts chapter of the League of Women Voters, and co-chair of the League's School of International Relations. "The success of a democracy depends on the individual being active and understanding and assuming his responsibility," she noted in a 1951 interview.
Babbitt was raised as a Methodist, but was a member of the Germantown Quaker Meeting in Pennsylvania from 1956 to 1964, and of the Monadnock Quaker Meeting in New Hampshire, beginning in 1964. With the American Friends Service Committee, Babbitt worked especially on fair housing in Philadelphia, employment issues in Mexico, and a stint as an organizer with the Arkansas Council on Human Relations in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1957 to 1960. "This is a problem for the entire country," she said of ongoing clashes over school desegregation in 1960. "People who see immorality in the South must challenge it. When national laws are flaunted, that is everyone's concern." She also worked in the Quaker office at the United Nations, and served on a Foreign Service Officer Selection Board for the US State Department in 1966. In 1973, she toured South America in a group of twenty American women activists, and met Isabel Peron
Babbitt founded a chapter of the Sierra Club for Southern New Hampshire, and served on its board of trustees. In 1977, she chaired the Sierra Club's North East Regional Conservation Committee task force, to oppose construction of a new highway across New Hampshire and Vermont. She was an avid birder and hiker, and a successful fundraiser. She was a founder and trustee of the Harris Center for Conservation Education in New Hampshire. A room at the Harris Center was named for Babbitt in 2003.
Personal life
Thelma Wright married Rowell Chickering; they had a son, educational researcher Arthur W. Chickering, before they divorced in 1937. She married her second husband, businessman George King Babbitt, in 1945; he died in 1951. She died in 2004 after a fall, aged 97 years, at her home in Hancock, New Hampshire.
Finding Sanctuary in the Outdoors
Thelma’s work on hotly contested issues prompted her to spend time in nature, which was “neutral ground.” Weekends at the Hancock home were times to rejuvenate.
“The outdoors became a place where the challenges of difficult issues could come to rest. The outdoors became her sanctuary.”
When Thelma retired at the age of 65, she moved to Hancock year-round. Her son Arthur, his wife Joanne, granddaughter Peri, and three other beloved grandchildren from her first marriage to Rowell Chickering were frequent visitors.
“We often spent several weeks in the summers here with her. She loved to canoe. I have very fond memories of paddling around Willard, Nubanusit, and Spoonwood.”
A Fervent Fundraiser
Thelma loved hiking and walking, as well as snowshoeing, and often went out with John Kulish on Harris Center jaunts in the early days. The Harris Center had the good fortune to benefit from Thelma’s service on and off the Board of Trustees for the better part of a quarter-century. She was a notoriously perseverant fundraiser, essentially serving as a volunteer development director.
>“If she sat down at your table, good luck in not writing a check! And if you didn’t, she’d come back again. She had the ability to speak authoritatively about the issues — as well as to intimidate you!”
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The Cache
The cache is NOT at the posted coordinates, although they are at a location where you are able to see the Babbitt family's house. It is a private residence, so please stay on the paved road here.
The cache is a large bison tube, winter friendly.
The cache can be found at N42 AB.0CD W072 FF.GHJ
- Thelma married her second husband, George King Babbitt, in 194A
- Thelma was born on October B
- Thelma died on February 1C
- Thelma worked in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1957 to 196D
- A room at the Harris Center was named for Babbitt in 2FF3
- Thelma died in 200G
- Thelma divorced her first husband, Rowell Chickering, in 193H
- She graduated from Chandler Secretarial School in Boston in 19J8