Talbot Perkins, Rebecca Clarendon

Rebecca Talbot Perkins ran alderman in Kings County, New York in 1919. She was a business woman and civic activist from Brooklyn, New York. She took over her father's real estate brokership after his death, thus becoming one of the first women to manage her own business in that trade. Talbot Perkins was involved in a variety of women's and suffrage organizations. At different times, she served as the president of the King's County Woman Suffrage Association, the Alliance of Women's Clubs of Brooklyn, and the Bedford Political Equality League. Talbot Perkins was also chairman of several other organizations and committees. In November of 1912, Talbot Perkins was involved in the planning of a massive suffrage parade that drew, according to one report, around 15 thousand men and women to march. The parade was taken as a sign of the movement's growth and increasing momentum, garnering the attention of public officials. Talbot Perkins announced her intention to run for alderman on November 17, 1919, after the death of an alderman created a vacancy. Though she was not supported, Talbot Perkins said that she ran to give other women the courage to put their names forward. Talbot Perkins was involved in social reform for women and children. She fought for women to be accepted as jurors after a judge mistakenly sent her a notice for jury duty. The judge assumed she was a man after reading her business address in the phonebook. Talbot Perkins also took part in a widely publicized trial, arguing against corporal punishment of children. In 1927, Talbot Perkins created the Rebecca Talbot Perkins Adoption Society. The organization, which operated until 2001, provided foster care and adoption services. Talbot-Perkins was inducted to the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2009.