Florence Sutro

Florence Sutro (May 1, 1865 – April 27, 1906), sometimes known as Mrs. Theodore Sutro, was a lawyer and organizer, most known for creating the National Federation of Women's Music Clubs and being its first president. Biography Florence Edith Clinton was born in England. Her father was Harry W. Clinton (1837—1893), son of Captain Harry and Mary Elizabeth (Villiers) Clinton. On her father's side she was descended from George Clinton the younger son of the 6th Earl of Lincoln, within the Clinton family lineage. Her mother was Frances Clinton (born Greenwood) (1839–1869). After her mother's death, her father immigrated with the family to Brooklyn, New York. She showed considerable musical talent as a child. At the age of 13 she won first prize of $1,000 in a contest with 950 other children for her playing of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. She attended the Grand Conservatory of New York where she was the first woman to graduate with the degree of Doctor of Music. She married Theodore Sutro (1845–1927), a lawyer and financier and brother of Otto Sutro and Adolph Sutro, on October 1, 1884. She thus became part of society in both social and intellectual circles, while devoting time to painting and music. "As a pianist she excels both in execution and sympathetic touch, while her canvases are welcome features at many of the exhibitions of the National Academy of Design." Encouraged by her husband, she took up the study of law attending women's classes at the City College of New York. Upon graduating in 1891, she was the class valedictorian and delivered the graduation address, "Why I Study Law", which labeled her "a speaker of wonderful magnetism and clearness." Quoting from the address: "Law is beautiful...This great sense of union and order which pervades all life" makes the study of law "one of the most broadest means possible for attaining to true culture." Although declining to enter the Bar, Sutro authored Women in Music and Law in 1895 which included an extensive list of women composers and their compositions. She devoted her energies to charitable organizations (such as being the vice-president of the New York Kindergarten and Potted-Plant Association). She was involved in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition festivities in Chicago during which the Infanta Eulalia of Spain visited the United States.