Former Home of Eugenia Brooks Frothingham: Musician, Artist, Novelist, and Suffragist

Born in Paris on November 17, 1873, Eugenia Brooks Frothingham lived at 476 Beacon Street from 1897 to 1922. During this time, she attended classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and published five novels. In 1914, Eugenia co-founded the Writer's Equal Suffrage League, an organization of women and men who advocated for women's right to vote, was elected Vice-President at their inaugural annual meeting and marched with the Writers Division in Boston's first Suffrage Parade. By the time Eugenia penned Fears of the Anti-Suffragist, she had established herself as a musician, artist, best-selling novelist, and suffragist.

An October 1892 article described Eugenia Frothingham (Class of 1899) and future MIT classmate Helen Schlesinger (Class of 1898) as "among the more prominent society debutantes of the winter." ¹⁴ Eugenia's debut symbolized her entry into the public sphere — and eligibility for marriage. The Frothinghams hosted several dances and teas that year for Eugenia. In her autobiography, Youth and I, Eugenia writes of those years, "To be in a society which consisted of boys and girls was perplexing to me, and baffling also. I did not learn to be at home in it, though I tried desperately, as I tried everything." ⁹

Eugenia was a woman of many talents and aspirations. After her society debut, she attended classes from 1897-1898, most likely as a Special Student in MIT's Department of Architecture. In her autobiography, she wrote, "[The] thought of growing into a good musician gave a necessary sense of cohesion to my existence on this planet; but I wanted something of the social world as well. To have only one talent, one hope, one achievement would be a kind of poverty. Indeed I think I could have used up several lives: there might have been one for music, one for art, one for literature and for being a 'great lady' in control of a salon and another as wife of the reform governor of some great state." ⁹

Eugenia debuted as a novelist in February 1901 with the publication of The Turn in the Road. This love story delved into themes of independence and societal expectations. "[I] was seriously possessed by the idea of a new story which blotted out interest in being an artist or a musician, of turning from the 'ugly duckling' into a swan. [...] Well, I was fourteen then. Ten years later I did write that book, and it was a best-seller." ⁹ The Turn in the Road garnered positive reviews from the Boston Herald and the New York Times Saturday Review. The Boston Evening Transcript wrote, "Although bearing the hallmark of a novice in the craft, 'The Turn of the Road' is yet an exceptional story." ¹⁷ Two printings sold out on the first day.¹⁰ Eugenia's strong-willed, independent heroines travel the same landscape she does. A few years later, in 1906, the Chicago Evening Post wrote of Eugenia's next book, The Evasion: "It reflects Boston as accurately as New York was mirrored by 'The House of Mirth.' But rather than merely arousing discussion, Miss Frothingham has inspired hope." ¹⁶ By 1918, Eugenia had published five novels and several short stories.

As Eugenia gained confidence as a bestselling author, she found her voice as a suffragist. In August 1912, the Boston Globe listed Eugenia with Katharine Dexter McCormick (MIT 1904 S.B. Biology) and Helen Schlesinger Parker among "the large clientele of prominent Boston women who are advocates of woman suffrage." ¹⁵ Three months later, Eugenia, a self-proclaimed introvert, spoke at a Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government (BESAGG) jubilee to an audience of one thousand at MIT's Huntington Hall: "[T]he laboring man finds the ballot of benefit to him in improving his condition, and the working woman needs it for the same reason; and that hygienic conditions necessary for healthy homes can best be obtained and maintained by women who have the ballot." ¹⁸ 

In subsequent speeches and writings, Eugenia examines the fears of the anti-suffragists. “[Most fears] are merely prejudices. We are apt to forget that what is considered bad taste in one age may become good taste or nonsense in a subsequent age." ¹³ As a contributor to the Boston Globe's 1913 series, "A Reason a Day Women Should Vote," she mentions with each advance for women's rights, proponents declared, "these acts were against her nature and the laws of God and would cause her to neglect her home." ⁵ Eugenia asserts such arguments are opinions, not reasons. In Fears of the Anti-Suffragist, published in 1914, she acknowledges, "Some of the many fears entertained with regard to what may happen when women vote will doubtless be realized. Some women may vote too little and some too much; others may be bribed; others will be foolish-just like men. Any one who bases an argument for women's enfranchisement on the ground that nothing will ever go wrong with it could scarcely be considered reasonable. There is something wrong with everything in this world." ⁷

Eugenia adds a touch of ironic humor in a 1915 Woman's Journal article, eloquently describing her gratitude for the "thankful heart" of the anti-suffragists. "The anti-suffragist is always grateful for wise and beneficent laws passed in non-suffrage States, because this shows what good can be accomplished without a woman's vote; but when a State grants votes to its women, the anti-suffragist becomes grateful for all bad laws passed in it, because this proves what an evil thing woman's vote is. [...] When all states are won to suffrage, we suppose that the antis will be cheerful still [...] because it will lend emphasis to the time-honored Scripture phrase that 'the wicked shall prosper in their evil ways.'" ⁶

From glimpses seen through newspapers and her autobiography, Eugenia seems to fulfill a prophecy by Winifred, the protagonist in A Turn of the Road: "An unmarried woman has her choice of four things: society, charity, literary clubs, and melancholia."⁸ Eugenia admits to periods of melancholia or ennui, but she never succumbed. Moving beyond these roles, Eugenia used her standing as a recognized novelist and member of Boston's "high society" to advance social reform: women's suffrage, prison reform, temperance, and peace. As a pacifist, she actively campaigned for Woodrow Wilson's 1916 presidential campaign. During World War I, she paired "War Committee" work with organizing support for the League of Nations. In 1920, when 60,000 Boston women would vote in their first federal election, the Massachusetts Democratic party nominated Eugenia as a District 14 Elector for the presidential election.^1,11

1. “60,000 Women Cast Ballots in Boston.” The Boston Globe, 3 Nov. 1920. 
2. “476 Beacon | Back Bay Houses.” Back Bay Houses, 10 July 2013, https://backbayhouses.org/476-beacon/. Accessed 4 May 2024.
3. Bever, Marilynn Arsey, The women of MIT, 1871-1941: who they were, what they achieved. 1976, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SB Department of Humanities thesis. DSpace @ MIT. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33804. Accessed 8 Aug. 2023.
4. “Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government.” Boston Evening Transcript, 16 May 1914.
5. Frothingham, Eugenia Brooks. “A Reason a Day Why Women Should Vote.” The Boston Globe, 4 Mar. 1913.
6. ---. “A Thankful Heart.” Woman’s Journal, Vol 46, No. 9, 27 Feb. 1915. Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Harvard University. https://nrs.lib.harvard.edu/urn-3:rad.schl:26312859?n=70. Accessed 3 May 2024.
7. ---. Fears of the Anti-Suffragist. 1914, Boston Athenaeum Digital Collection. https://cdm.bostonathenaeum.org/digital/collection/p15482coll3/id/4425. Accessed 3 May 2024. 
8. ---. The Turn of the Road. (HathiTrust), Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1901, p. 12, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t6639mq32. Accessed 1 May 2023.
9. ---. Youth and I. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1938. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/youthi00frot/mode/1up. Accessed 1 May 2023.
10. Nowogrodzki, SM ’15, Anna. “I Burned with Indignation,” MIT Technology Review, 20 Oct. 2020. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/10/20/1009365/i-burned-with-indignation/. Accessed 8 Aug. 2024.
11. “Notes and News.” Woman’s Journal, Vol. 32, No. 13, 30 Mar. 1901. Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America Institution Harvard University. https://nrs.lib.harvard.edu/urn-3:rad.schl:16162485?n=109. Accessed 1 May 2024.
12. “Notices: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts - Office of the Secretary.” Boston Post, 3 Oct. 1920.
13. Nowogrodzki, SM’15, Anna. “‘I Burned with Indignation’ | MIT Technology Review.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 20 Oct. 2020, https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/10/20/1009365/i-burned-with-indignation/.
14. “Replies to Opponents.” The Boston Globe, 11 Dec. 1912.
15. “Table Gossip.” The Boston Globe, 9 Oct. 1892.
16. “---.” The Boston Globe, 4 Aug. 1912.
17. “The Evasion [Advertisement].” Boston Evening Transcript, 14 Apr. 1906.
18. “The Turn of the Road.” Boston Evening Transcript, 1 May 1901.
19. “Victory from Good Example.” The Boston Globe, 13 Nov. 1912.