Birth in Lowell, Massachusetts
February 18, 1878
Blanche Ames was born into a prominent New England family in Lowell, Massachusetts. Her father, Adelbert Ames, was a Civil War general and later governor of Mississippi, and her mother, Blanche Butler Ames, was a writer and advocate for women's education. This intellectually stimulating and politically engaged environment undoubtedly shaped Blanche's own progressive views and activism.