Cynthia May Alden

Cynthia Westover Alden
200px circa 1908
Born	Cynthia May Westover (1862-05-31)May 31, 1862 Afton, Iowa
Died	Brooklyn, New York (home)
Residence	New York City from 1882
Other names	Kate Kensington (pen name)
Education	Denver public schools, Boulder Normal School, Denver Business College, Academy of Music (New York)
Occupation	Teacher Civil servant Journalist Author editor in chief Philanthropist
Known for	Journalism and the humanitarian work of the International Sunshine Society she founded.
Spouse(s)	John B. Alden (m. 1896)
Parent(s)	Oliver S. Westover Lucinda (Lewis) Westover
Relatives	Alexander Campbell (great-grandfather)
Awards	Gold medal (Parisian Academy of Inventors - c.1891) Honorary M. Literature (Alfred University - 1905)

Cynthia May Westover Alden (May 31, 1862 – January 8, 1931), commonly known as Cynthia W. Alden, was an American journalist, author and New York municipal employee.

Biography

She was born in Afton, Iowa. She was educated at the University of Colorado and the Denver Business College.

In 1887 she was appointed an inspector of customs, in which position she was involved in the seizure of smuggled goods. She lived and worked in New York City as a music teacher and as soloist in church choirs. She was secretary to the New York City Commissioner of Street Cleaning for two years. For a time she was also employed at the New York Museum of Natural History.

She entered journalism as editor of the woman's department, first, of the New York Recorder, and later of the New York Tribune. During her three years with the Tribune she planned and founded the International Sunshine Society, of which she became president-general.

Alden accepted a position on the editorial staff of the Ladies' Home Journal, but she continued to reside in New York City, where she died. Her published writings include: Manhattan, Historic: Artistic; Bushy: Child Life in the Far West; Women's Ways of Earning Money (1904).

Sources

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