Adelaide Dean Child

Adelaide Dean Child, a.k.a. Mrs. H. W. Child (1861 – 20 October 1949) was an American suffragist.

Life and career

Adelaide Dean Child was born in 1861 in Madison, Wisconsin, to Simeon Dean (1826–1912) and Ellen Maria Watson Dean (1834–1924). She had at least two siblings: Anna Dean Young (1856–1938) and Maria Morrison Dean (1857–1919).

Child attended Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, and showed an early interest in equality for women as a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the university. On May 10, 1882, at 20 Beacon Street, the four charter members she selected heard her read the constitution and the oath of initiation.

Her husband, Harry W. Child (president of Yellowstone Park Transportation Company,) gave her access to influential people in society. The couple formed relationships with a number of well-known politicians and wealthy businessmen throughout the United States, including President Theodore Roosevelt and his wife. 

Child's social and economic status made it possible for her to devote her leisure time to philanthropy. In the 1900s, she helped raise funds to train teachers; contributed funds to build a new camp for the YMCA in Helena, including a clubhouse and additional facilities; established a scholarship for a Montana girl at Scripps College in Claremont, California; contributed to the restoration and refurnishing of the Helena public library; and furnished the ballroom of the Grand Canyon Hotel in Yellowstone Park.

In 1899, Child's sister, Maria M. Dean, a prominent Montana physician and "advocate in the Votes for Women campaign," served as the campaign fund chairwoman and as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Montana. 

Personal life

Adelaide was married to her husband Harry Wilbour Child (1856–1931), president of Yellowstone Park Transportation Company. They had a daughter, Ellen D. Child (b. 1884,) and a son Huntley Child (b. 1886).

Death

Child died on October 20, 1949, at the age of 87. She is buried at Forestvale Cemetery, Helena, Montana.