Eleanor Baldwin Cass
{{short description|American fencer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Eleanor Baldwin Cass
| image = EleanorBaldwinCass1904.png
| alt = A white woman wearing a dark dress, holding a fencing pose
| caption = Eleanor Baldwin Cass, from a 1904 publication
| birth_name = Eleanor G. Baldwin
| birth_date = February 5, 1874
| birth_place = Charlestown, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date = August 24, 1966 (aged 92)
| death_place =
| other_names = Ella G. Cass
| occupation = Fencer, writer, educator
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Eleanor G. Baldwin Cass (February 5, 1874Cass gave inconsistent answers when asked for her year of birth, across United States federal censuses and other sources. Most sources show her year of birth in the 1870s. She appeared in the 1880 Federal Census as a six-year-old in her parent's household, supporting an 1874 birth year, via Ancestry. – August 26, 1966) was an American fencer, who promoted fencing and wrote about the sport.
Early life and education
Baldwin was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the daughter of Charles F. Baldwin and Mary Gilbert Baldwin. She graduated from the Sargent School of Physical Education and Emerson College in Boston.{{Cite book |last=Howe |first=Julia Ward |url=http://archive.org/details/sketchesofrepres00howe |title=Sketches of representative women of New England |last2=Graves |first2=Mary H. |last3=Elliott |first3=Mary Elvira |last4=Stimpson |first4=Mary A. |last5=Hoyt |first5=Martha Seavey |date=1904 |page=472 |publisher=Boston : New England Historical Pub. Co.}}
Career
Cass was a competitive fencer,{{Cite news |date=1904-02-21 |title=Clever Women Fencers of Greater Boston |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/boston-post-clever-women-fencers-of-grea/151952870/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=Boston Post |pages=59 |via=Newspapers.com}} "reputed to have the most beautiful form of any woman in the world." She gave fencing demonstrations on stage.{{Cite news |date=1914-01-11 |title=Eleanor B. Cass (advertisement) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-eleanor-b-cass-advert/151949229/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=The Boston Globe |pages=51 |via=Newspapers.com}} She taught fencing to women at Mount Holyoke College, Wheaton College, Smith College, and Jackson College.{{Cite news |date=1966-08-27 |title=Mrs. Cass, Fencing Expert, Dies at 89 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-mrs-cass-fencing-expe/151951673/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=The Boston Globe |pages=14 |via=Newspapers.com}} She also taught privately in Newport, to young men and women in wealthy families, including the Vanderbilts and Astors. James J. Van Alen was one of her fencing students.{{Cite news |date=1924-09-04 |title=Woman Fencer Held for Fraud; Mrs. Eleanor Baldwin Cass of Medford Arrested at Newport L.I. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-republican-woman-fencer-held-for-fra/151946677/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=The Republican |via=Newspapers.com |pages=4}} Her 1930 book on fencing included historical and practical information, with diagrams and photographs.{{Cite news |date=1931-01-04 |title=The Book of Fencing |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-the-book-of-fencin/144401698/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=The Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |pages=46}}{{Cite news |date=1930-11-09 |title=Book of Fencing Revives Lost Art |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/arizona-republic-book-of-fencing-revives/151947231/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=Arizona Republic |via=Newspapers.com|pages=6}}
Cass was a skilled horsewoman, and played tennis and golf well. She also directed a church play given as a fundraiser during World War I.{{Cite news |date=1918-06-11 |title='The Master's Power' Proves Gripping Play |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/boston-post-the-masters-power-proves/151948768/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=Boston Post |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}} "No mother should neglect a talent that has been given to her," she told an interviewer in 1930. "She need not use it remuneratively, but she should make it benefit the family."{{Cite news |date=1930-06-04 |title='Like Mother, Like Son!' Mrs. E. Cass Taught Her Five Sons Skill in Fencing |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-like-mother-like-son-mrs/151952113/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=The Times |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Cass filed for bankruptcy in 1920 and 1924,{{Cite news |date=1920-05-16 |title=Business Troubles |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-business-troubles/151948467/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=The Boston Globe |pages=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1924-12-24 |title=Business Troubles |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-business-troubles/151948564/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=The Boston Globe |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}} and was arrested for passing a bad check in Rhode Island in 1924.
Publications
Personal life
Baldwin married banker John W. Cass in 1900. They had five sons, John, Robert, Francis, Leo, and Edward, who all became fencers.{{Cite news |date=1921-03-20 |last=Milne |first=J.R.|title=Why Grow Old? Try Backyard Flip Flops with the Children |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/boston-post/22805142/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=Boston Post |pages=48}}{{Cite news |date=1929-06-15 |title=Woman and Five Sons Expert Fencers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-item-woman-and-five-sons-exper/151945641/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=The Daily Item |via=Newspapers.com |pages=11}} Her son Francis started the Medford Fencing Club in 1924;{{Cite news |date=1924-04-17 |title=If Medford isn't the First City to Have a Boys' Fencing Club, it's One of the Very Few |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-if-medford-isnt-the-fi/151947833/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=The Boston Globe |via=Newspapers.com|pages=18}} he died in World War II. She died in 1966, at the age of 92, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.{{Cite news |date=1966-08-27 |title=Former Fencing Instructor at Mount Holyoke Dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/transcript-telegram-obituary-for-eleanor/144402004/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |via=Newspapers.com|work=Transcript-Telegram |pages=13}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cass, Eleanor Baldwin}}