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{{short description|American clubwoman}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Vida Newsom
| image = VidaNewsom1919.png
| alt = A white woman with dark hair in an updo, wearing a v-neck white garment and a necklace
| caption = Vida Newsom, from a 1919 publication
| other_names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = January 4, 1873
| birth_place = Sandcreek Township, Bartholomew County, Indiana
| death_date = July 8, 1938 (aged 65)
| death_place = Columbus, Indiana, US
| occupation = Suffragist, clubwoman
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}

'''Vida Newsom''' (January 4, 1873 – July 8, 1938) was an American suffragist and clubwoman, based in [[Columbus, Indiana]]. She was described in a 1925 headline as "One of State's Busiest Women."<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=1925-02-08|title=Miss Vida Newsom One of State's Busiest Women|pages=50|work=The Indianapolis Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74551477/miss-vida-newsom-one-of-states-busiest/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Vida Newsom was born in [[Sand Creek Township, Bartholomew County, Indiana|Sandcreek Township, Indiana]], one of the nine children of Jesse Ruddick Newsom and Mary Cox Newsom. The Newsom family were [[Quakers]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Long|first=Laura|date=1959-10-02|title=Women, the 'Do-Gooders' of Yesteryear, Did a Lot of Good|pages=21|work=The Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74555992/women-the-do-gooders-of-yesteryear/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She earned a bachelor's degree from [[Indiana University]] in 1903, and a master's degree in 1906.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=LoPresti|first=Eric|title=Biographical Sketch of Vida Newsom|url=https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1010111721|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-27|website=Alexander Street Documents}}</ref>

== Career ==
Newsom was active in the [[Women's suffrage|suffrage]] movement. She was president of the Columbus Franchise League from 1912 to 1920,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1918-01-16|title=Directory of League Issued|pages=5|work=The Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74554567/directory-of-league-issued/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and first vice-president of the State Legislative Council of Indiana Women, from 1915 to 1921.<ref name=":1" /> After suffrage was won, she became first president of the Columbus [[League of Women Voters]], leading the new organization from 1920 to 1924. She also served in statewide and national offices for suffrage and voting rights.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=August 22, 2020|title=Prime Time: Sister Suffragettes|url=http://www.therepublic.com/2020/08/25/prime_time_sister_suffragettes/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|website=The Republic|language=en-US}}</ref> She was president of the Indiana Federation of Women's Clubs,<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1914|title=[Notes]|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27785620|journal=Indiana Magazine of History|volume=10|issue=1|pages=126–131|jstor=27785620|issn=0019-6673}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1914-08-29|title=Clubwomen of Indiana Add Peace to Subjects to Which They Are Striving to Turn State's Attention|pages=3|work=The Indianapolis News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74553178/clubwomen-of-indiana-add-peace-to/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and chaired various statewide committees in the federation, including fundraising, mental health, highways and memorial tree planting.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Newsom|first=Vida|date=September 1927|title=National Garden Week|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtdNAAAAYAAJ&dq=Newsom&pg=RA18-PP2|journal=National Plant, Flower, and Fruit Guild Magazine|volume=16|pages=15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Section|first=Indiana State Council of Defense Woman's|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSw7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA27|title=Report of the Woman's Section of the Indiana State Council of Defense: From October, 1917, to April, 1919|date=1919|publisher=W. B. Burford, contractor for state printing and binding|language=en}}</ref> During [[World War I]], she chaired the county women's [[Liberty bond|Liberty Loan]] committee.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1918-09-19|title=Big County Meeting of Women's Committee|pages=8|work=The Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74554683/big-county-meeting-of-womens-committee/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Newsom took a particular interest in eugenics and mental health. She served as vice-president of the Indiana Society for Mental Hygiene, and was an advisor on mental health for the [[General Federation of Women's Clubs]] from 1926 to 1932.<ref name=":0" /> She was secretary of the Bartholomew County Board of Charities, and from 1922 to 1923 president of the State Conference of Charities and Corrections.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQbTAAAAMAAJ&dq=Vida+Newsom&pg=PA206|title=The Indiana Bulletin of Charities and Correction|date=1919|publisher=Board of State Charities|pages=207-212, 331-332|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1922-10-10|title=Gives Address at Conference|pages=1|work=The Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74555790/gives-address-at-conference/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Newsom was also interested in historical commemoration and recreational spaces. She wrote a pageant for marking the Indiana state centennial in 1916,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1916-10-05|title=Girl Rider Has Been Selected|pages=5|work=The Columbus Republican|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74552581/girl-rider-has-been-selected/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1916-07-21|title=Descendant to Take Part|pages=4|work=The Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14739428/the-republic/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> was one of the founders of the Bartholomew County Historical Society in 1921,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The mission and the history of The Bartholomew County Historical Society|url=https://bartholomewhistory.org/about/mission-history/|access-date=2021-03-27|website=Bartholomew County Historical Society|language=en-US}}</ref> and wrote articles about local history for the ''[[Indiana Magazine of History]]''.<ref>Newsom, Vida. [https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/siebert/id/27122/ "The Underground Railroad in Southeastern Indiana"] ''Indiana Magazine of History'' 20(March 1924); via Wilbur H. Seibert Underground Railroad Collection, Ohio History Connection</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Newsom|first=Vida|date=March 1924|title=Phases of Southeastern Indiana History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CncfAQAAMAAJ&dq=Vida+Newsom&pg=RA1-PA37|journal=Indiana Magazine of History|volume=20|pages=37–58}}</ref> She compiled a history of Bartholomew County's war effort in 1919.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1919-06-20|title=Work Underway for War History of this County|pages=1|work=The Republic|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74555572/work-underway-for-war-history-of-this/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was president of the Columbus Playground Association from 1911 to 1913, and was one of the leaders of the successful effort to create [[Turkey Run State Park]]. She served on a national commission on street and highway safety in 1924, appointed by [[Herbert Hoover]].<ref name=":1" />

== Personal life ==
Newsom died at home in 1938, aged 65 years, in Columbus.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1938-07-12|title=Clubwoman Dies in Columbus Home|pages=3|work=The Indianapolis Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74556444/clubwoman-dies-in-columbus-home/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-28|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her family's farm, the [[Newsom–Marr Farm]], is a historic site in Bartholomew County.<ref>[https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/e8f8f909-051c-4742-94fd-042ac5f24952 Newsom-Marr Farm], National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service.</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newsom, Vida}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1938 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Columbus, Indiana]]
[[Category:American suffragists]]
[[Category:Indiana University alumni]]
[[Category:American women in World War I]]
[[Category:Quaker feminists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women]]
[[Category:Clubwomen]]
[[Category:Historians from Indiana]]

Vida Newsom - Revision history

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