Julia Vida Dutton Scudder (1861–1954) was an American social reformer, writer, and educator recognized for her impact on social justice and literature.
Born in Madurai, India, to a Congregationalist missionary, Scudder attended private secondary schools in Boston and graduated from the Boston Girls’ Latin School in 1880. She then pursued her B.A. at Smith College, graduating in 1884. Scudder began teaching English literature at Wellesley College in 1887, becoming an associate professor in 1892 and a full professor by 1910.
In 1888, Scudder joined the Companions of the Holy Cross, a semimonastic group of Episcopalian women focused on prayer and social harmony. She was active in several social welfare initiatives, including founding the Denison House Settlement in Boston that same year. In 1903, she helped establish the Women’s Trade Union League. Her support for striking textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1912 led to criticism, but Wellesley College defended her right to act freely.
Scudder authored several influential works on literature and socialist ideals, including The Life of the Spirit in the Modern English Poets (1895,) Introduction to the Study of English Literature (1901,) Socialism and Character (1912,) and her autobiography On Journey (1937.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Vida Dutton Scudder
An element of abstention, of restraint, must enter into all finer joys.
—Vida Dutton Scudder
Topics: Self-Control
Creation is a better means of self-expression than possession; it is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed.
—Vida Dutton Scudder
Topics: Self Respect, Life, Sin, Better, Self-Esteem
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