Born: 11 November 1886, United States
Died: 10 September 1983
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Alice Taylor Huyler
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
In 1908, Alice Ramsey’s husband gifted her a new Maxwell runabout, and that summer, she drove over 6,000 miles near their Hackensack home. In September of the same year, she participated in the American Automobile Association’s Montauk Point endurance race, driving one of the three Maxwells entered. Ramsey, one of only two women in the race, secured a bronze medal with a perfect score. Carl Kelsey, a Maxwell-Briscoe publicist, proposed a transcontinental journey during this event, backed by the company. They provided a 1909 touring car and support for Ramsey, initially conceived as a publicity stunt and part of Maxwell’s strategy to market specifically to women.
On June 9, 1909, at 22, she began her 3,800-mile journey from Hell Gate in Manhattan to San Francisco, driving a green, four-cylinder, 30-horsepower Maxwell DA. Accompanied by two older sisters-in-law and a 19-year-old friend, none of whom could drive, they arrived in San Francisco on August 7 amid great fanfare, though a few weeks later than planned.
Using maps from the American Automobile Association, the group traversed only 152 of the 3,600 miles on paved roads. Throughout the journey, Ramsey changed 11 tires, cleaned spark plugs, repaired a broken brake pedal, and slept in the car when stuck in mud. Navigating by following telephone poles with more wires, they hoped to reach a town.
During the trip, they encountered a Nebraska manhunt, dealt with bedbugs in a Wyoming hotel, and encountered a Native American hunting party in Nevada. In San Francisco, crowds welcomed them at the St. James Hotel. Between 1909 and 1975, Ramsey made the cross-country drive more than 30 times.
After her husband’s death in 1933, Ramsey lived with Anna Graham Harris in New Jersey and West Covina, California, until Anna’s death in 1953. From 1968 until her passing on September 10, 1983, in Covina, California, Ramsey shared her life with Elizabeth Elliott.