Born: 14 October 1849, United States
Died: 23 February 1921
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Mrs. John A. Lowery, Mrs. James Speyer, Ellin L. Prince
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Mrs. James Speyer, an American philanthropist, born in Lowell, Mass. She was the daughter of J. Dynely Prince and Mary Travers of Baltimore.
Her first husband was John A. Lowery, who died in 1892, and five years later she was married to James Speyer, the New York banker.
In 1884 she was a moving spirit in organizing the first working girls’ club in the United States. For more than twenty-five years she gave her time and labor to worthy charities, and no movement for the care of the sick and the weak, and especially of children and animals, appealed to her in vain.
She was one of the founders of the New York Women’s League for Animals in 1909, of which she was president from the beginning until her death. The growth and success of this organization, which built a model hospital for the free care of sick animals belonging to the poor, were largely due to her inspiration and untiring zeal.
Mrs. Speyer will be remembered for her innumerable acts of kindness, and in organizing the Work-horse Parade, which was held for eight years preceding the war, the keenness of her sympathies and the quaint originality of her mind found perhaps their happiest and most eloquent public expression.