Albion Fellows Bacon

Albion Fellows Bacon was born in Evansville, Indiana, in 1865, and reared in the nearby hamlet of McCutchanville. She was a sensitive, artistic, and deeply religious youth and revelled in the natural world around her. Following graduation from Evansville High School she worked for several years as a secretary and court reporter, toured Europe with her sister, married local merchant Hilary Bacon in 1888, and settled into a seemingly comfortable routine of middle-class domesticity. Shortly after the birth of her second daughter in 1892, however, she was afflicted with a debilitating illness that lasted for several years, an illness that may have resulted from a real or perceived absence of outlets for the intelligence and creativity.Bacon eventually found such outlets in a myriad of voluntary associations and social welfare campaigns. Her efforts in this regard began with activities such as 'friendly visiting' in Evansville's poorer neighbourhoods, but soon expanded to include statewide initiatives. She became best known for her work on behalf of tenement reform and was instrumental in the passage of legislation to improve housing conditions in the state. She was also involved in child welfare work, city planning and zoning, and a variety of public health efforts. Bacon became Indiana's foremost 'municipal houskeeper', a Progressive Era term for women who applied their domestic skills to social problems plaguing their communities.She also found time to write. She had begun to write poetry as a schoolgirl and usually had some sort of literary project underway. Much of her output as an adult related to her social reform efforts, but she also prepared articles and booklets that proclaimed her religious faith, published one volume of children's stories, and authored several pageants. One subject she did not write about was women's suffrage. While she did not oppose votes for women, suffrage was never her priority and she was not an active participant in the crusade. But the reality of her participation in public affairs did advance the cause of women's political equality and provided a role model for future generations. So in addition to the 'municipal housekeeper' label, Bacon can also be thought of as an 'inadventent feminist'.