Grace Durand

Grace Garrett Durand (August 25, 1867 – February 26, 1948) was an American clubwoman, business owner, and temperance activist.

Grace Garrett Durand, from a 1914 publication.

Early life

Grace Denise Garrett was born in Burlington, Iowa, the daughter of William Garrett and Martha Rorer Garrett.[1] She went to school at St. Mary's in Knoxville, Illinois.[2]

Career

In 1904 Grace Durand began running a model dairy, Crab Tree Farm, in Lake Forest, Illinois, to sell good quality local milk to Chicagoans,[3] and to support her other projects, such as a kindergarten for children in Chicago's tenements.[4] The farm was relocated to Lake Bluff, Illinois in 1906. "I have not entirely given up society for my dairy," Durand explained, "but the work is so interesting that I cannot look upon the time and effort given to it as any sacrifice."[5] Several of the buildings on the farm were lost by fire in 1910. She rebuilt the barns with help from architect Solon Spencer Beman.[6] In 1915, her herd of Guernsey cows was destroyed by government officials because they were suspected of carrying foot and mouth disease.[7][8] She sued for $100,000 in damages.[9] She lectured at farmers' institutes across the American midwest on her methods and experiences in dairy work, and patented a design for milk jugs.[10]

Grace Durand was the first woman elected to serve on the board of education in Lake Forest, Illinois.[1] She was a member of the Lake Forest Golf Club,[11] and president of the Lake Bluff chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. She wrote a book, Consider, opposing the repeal of Prohibition. Her temperance work was much remarked upon when her husband was accused of participating in a "rum ring" and indicted in 1933.[12][13]

Personal life

Grace Garrett married wealthy sugar broker[14] Scott Sloan Durand in 1894. They adopted two children.[1] Their son Jackson G. "Jack" Durand was convicted of robbing the home of F. Edson White in 1926, and served a prison sentence.[15][16] The Durands traveled around the world, even visiting Tristan da Cunha in 1935.[17] Grace died in 1948, aged 80 years.

She donated woven and embroidered shawls from India to the Art Institute of Chicago.[18][19]

Crab Tree Farm remains a working farm near Lake Bluff today.[6]

References
  1. John William Leonard, ed., Woman's Who's Who of America (American Commonwealth Publishing 1914): 263.
  2. C. Chamberlain Tracey, A History of Lake County, Illinois (R. S. Bates 1912): 501.
  3. "A Model Dairy Farm" New Castle Herald (July 13, 1908): 6. via Newspapers.com
  4. Kate V. Saint Maur, "Mrs. Scott Durand – Milk Woman" Pearson's Magazine 24(November 1910): 634.
  5. Michael H. Ebner, Creating Chicago's North Shore: A Suburban History (University of Chicago Press 1988): 202-203. ISBN 9780226182056
  6. History of Crab Tree Farm, Crab Tree Farm website.
  7. Alan L. Olmstead, Arresting Contagion: Science, Policy, and Conflicts over Animal Disease Control (Harvard University Press 2015): 126. ISBN 9780674967229
  8. "The Gentlewoman Farmer and Her Fight to Save her $30,000 Herd" Washington Herald (November 28, 1915): 33. via Newspapers.com
  9. "Mrs. Durand Asks $100,000" New York Times (November 21, 1915).
  10. Sarah Comstock, "Mrs. Durand: A Twentieth Century Product" Harper's Weekly (May 9, 1914): 28-30.
  11. Kim Coventry, Daniel Meyer, Arthur H. Miller, Classic Country Estates of Lake Forest (W. W. Norton & Company 2003): 67. ISBN 9780393730999
  12. "Scott Durand Named in Rum Ring Indictment" Chicago Daily Tribune (February 17, 1933): 4.
  13. "Wealthy Broker, Mate of Rum Foe, Indicted by U. S." Decatur Daily Review (February 17, 1933): 1. via Newspapers.com
  14. "Mrs. Durand to Start Dairy" Omaha Daily Bee (June 18, 1915): 32. via Newspapers.com
  15. "Durand Appeal Denied" Belvidere Daily Republican (June 16, 1926): 1. via Newspapers.com
  16. "Considering Parole of Jack Durand" Freeport Journal Standard (May 3, 1928): 1. via Newspapers.com
  17. "Travelers Will Bring Tales of Strange Lands" Chicago Tribune (March 27, 1935): 12.
  18. Long Shawl, Art Institute of Chicago.
  19. Long Shawl, Art Institute of Chicago.
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