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"Ruth Baker Pratt (August 24, 1877 - August 23, 1965), was an American politician and the first female representative to be elected from New York. Early life On August 24, 1877, Pratt was born as Ruth Sears Baker in Ware, Massachusetts. Pratt's father was Edwin K. Baker, a dry-goods merchant. Education Pratt attended Wellesley College. Political career She was a member of the board of aldermen of New York City in 1925, being the first woman to serve; re-elected in 1927 and served until March 1, 1929. She was a member of the Republican National Committee 1929-1943; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1924, 1932, 1936, 1940; delegate to the Republican State conventions in 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1936, and 1938. She served as president of the Women's National Republican Club 1943-1946 She was elected as a Republican to the 71st and 72nd Congresses (1929–1933), being the first woman elected to Congress from New York, beating out her primary competitor Phelps Phelps. Pratt-Smoot Act Together with Reed Smoot, she introduced the Pratt-Smoot Act, passed by the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover on March 3, 1931. The Act provided $100,000, to be administered by the Library of Congress, to provide blind adults with books. The program, which is known as Books for the Blind, has been heavily amended and expanded over the years, and remains in place today. Later life She died on 23 August 1965 at the family house and estate, Manor House, Glen Cove, Long Island; she was one day shy of her 88th birthday. She was interred at the Pratt Family Mausoleum, Old Tappan Road, Glen Cove. Marriage and children She married John Teele Pratt, a corporate attorney, philanthropist, music impresario, and financier. Together, they had five children, including Edwin H Baker Pratt (1913–1975), whose son is singer- songwriter Andy Pratt. See also * Women in the United States House of Representatives References * External links * Category:1877 births Category:1965 deaths Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Category:People from Ware, Massachusetts Category:Wellesley College alumni Category:New York (state) Republicans Category:Female members of the United States House of Representatives Category:Women in New York (state) politics Category:New York City Council members Category:Politicians from Glen Cove, New York Category:Charles Pratt family Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives Category:Women city councillors in the United States "
"The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a territory in Northern Germany, held by the younger line of the House of Mecklenburg residing in Neustrelitz. Like the neighbouring Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, it was a sovereign member state of the German Confederation and became a federated state of the North German Confederation and finally of the German Empire upon the unification of 1871. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–19 it was succeeded by the Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Geography Map of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, with territories in yellow It consisted of two detached parts of the Mecklenburg region: the larger Lordship of Stargard with the residence of Neustrelitz to the southeast of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg- Schwerin and the Principality of Ratzeburg on the west. The first was bounded by the Prussian provinces of Pomerania and Brandenburg, the second bordered on the Duchy of Lauenburg (incorporated into the Province of Schleswig-Holstein in 1876) and the territory of the Free City of Lübeck. Major towns beside Neustrelitz included Neubrandenburg, Friedland, Woldegk, Stargard, Fürstenberg, and Wesenberg. The Grand Duchy also comprised the former commandries of the Knights Hospitaller in Mirow and Nemerow. History The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, established according to the dynastic Treaty of Hamburg in 1701, adopted the corporative constitution of the sister Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin by an act of September 1755. During the Napoleonic Wars it was spared the infliction of a French occupation through the good offices of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and his minister Maximilian von Montgelas; Duke Charles II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz declared neutrality in 1806 and joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1808, however, he withdrew in 1813 on the eve of the German campaign in favor of an alliance against Napoleon. He joined the German Confederation established after the 1815 Congress of Vienna to succeed the dissolved Holy Roman Empire; he and his cousin Frederick Francis I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin both assumed the title of grand duke (Großherzog von Mecklenburg). Neustrelitz Palace in 1900 Though Grand Duke Frederick William openly rejected the Prussian annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover, the Prussian Army had been aided by soldiers from Mecklenburg-Strelitz in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Thereupon, the Grand Duchy joined the North German Confederation and the reconstituted Zollverein. Also in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, the Kingdom of Prussia received valuable assistance from Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1871 both Mecklenburg- Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz became States of the German Empire. Mecklenburg-Strelitz returned one member to the Bundesrat chamber of states. However, the Grand Duke was still styled Prince of the Wends and the internal government of Mecklenburg-Strelitz remained unmodernized. Mocked by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck as a safe haven in the face of threatening apocalypse "as everything there happens 50 years later", the Grand Duchy had always been a government of feudal character. The Grand Dukes exercised absolute power through their ministers, with an antiquated type of diet representing social classes. It met for a short session each year, and at other times was represented by a committee consisting of the proprietors of knights' estates (), known as the Ritterschaft, and of the Landschaft, which was composed of burgomasters of selected towns. There was now a renewal of agitation for a more democratic constitution, and the German Reichstag gave some countenance to this movement. In 1904 Adolphus Frederick V, a son of Grand Duke Frederick William and his wife Princess Augusta of Cambridge, daughter of Prince Adolphus, became grand duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1907, the grand duke promised a constitution to the duchy's subjects, but this was met with opposition from the nobility. Aftermath The Mecklenburg-Strelitz dynasty ended just prior to the loss of the monarchy in developments associated with World War I. At that time, there existed only two surviving recognized male dynasts of Strelitz, the young Grand Duke Adolphus Frederick VI, and his cousin Charles Michael, who was in Russian service, being a son of Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna. In 1914, before the proclamation of war between Germany and Russia, Duke Charles Michael renounced his Mecklenburgish citizenship. On 23 February 1918, Grand Duke Adolf Frederick VI committed suicide, leaving his cousin Charles Michael as heir to the Strelitz throne. Being in Russia, however, Charles Michael did not assume the throne, and in 1918 he wrote to Grand Duke Frederick Francis IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who was acting as regent in Strelitz, stating that he wished to renounce his rights of succession to Strelitz, though the letter was only received by Frederick Francis in 1919 after the end of the German monarchies, so the issue of succession could not be resolved at the time. The House of Mecklenburg- Strelitz survives to this day, descending from Duke George, the morganatic son of Duke George Alexander with Countess Natalia Carlow and nephew of Duke Charles Michael, who adopted him in 1928. George subsequently assumed the title "Duke of Mecklenburg" (Serene Highness) which was acknowledged by Grand Duke Frederick Francis IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He was later given the style of "Highness" by the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. George's grandson Borwin is the present head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The county of Mecklenburg in the U.S. state of North Carolina, which includes the city of Charlotte, is named after the duchy. The City of Charlotte, known as "The Queen City" was named for Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III of Great Britain. Queen Charlotte was Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, born on 19 May 1744. She was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg, Prince of Mirow and his wife Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen. References External links *Grand Ducal House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Mecklenburg-Strelitz Category:1815 establishments in Europe Category:1918 disestablishments in Germany eo:Meklenburgo#Meklenburgo- Strelitz "
"The Sīladharā Order is a Theravada Buddhist female monastic order established by Ajahn Sumedho at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery, England. Its members are known as Sīladharās. In 1983, he obtained permission from the Sangha in Thailand, to give a ten-precept pabbajjā to women, giving them official recognition as female renunciants trained in the Ajahn Chah lineage. The reasons for its establishment are due to the historical loss of the bhikkhunī (nun's) ordination in Theravada Buddhism, limiting renunciation for female Theravadins to ad hoc roles such as the thilashins and maechis, neither of which garner recognition from modern-day Theravada Buddhists as genuine renunciants. History Ajahn Sumedho enlisted Ajahn Sucitto to train the nuns from 1984 to 1991. By 2008, sīladharās were trained in the discipline of more than one hundred precepts, including rules based on the pāṭimokkha of the bhikkhunī order. The order waxed and waned throughout its brief history, peaking at around 14, mostly living at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. Status In order to not violate national laws governing religious ordinations in predominantly Theravāda countries, with the notable exception of Sri Lanka, the Sīladharā Order is formally considered junior to that of bhikkhus or fully ordained men. Over the last twenty years, many siladhāras have therefore sought full bhikkhunī ordination with commensurate privileges, recognition and responsibilities enjoyed by male monastics. Making full ordination available to women a cultural issue with significant implications for the welfare of young girls living in poverty in Asian countries where Theravada Buddhism is prevalent, especially Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka. Speaking of Thailand, Lynne Hybels writes, "Young men in desperately poor families such as those in Chiang Rai can bring honor to their families by becoming monks, but girls are expected to provide financially. Traffickers understand this vulnerability, prey on it, and easily lure girls into life in the brothel." Such ordinations, however, are according to Buddhism itself motivated by wrong view; in particular, by careerism or economism, rather than by a sense of saṁvega and genuine renunciation.Greenspoon, N. H. (2011, October 2). Good reason to ordain. Ask a Monk. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEbaJbui8ao. After years of thorough discussion, Ajahn Sumedho issued a "Five-Point Declaration" concerning women's roles and rights in the Amaravati monastic community.http://west-wight-sangha.blogspot.com/2010/03/more-on-nun- ordinations-at-amaravati.html This affirmed the status quo of seniority of male over female monastics. The declaration holds that while some teaching and management responsibilities are shared between the two orders according to capability, the Siladhara Order is unequivocally junior to that of the monks. The "Five-Point Declaration" is considered by the very world (') renounced by monastics to be discriminatory against women.http://www.leighb.com/nuns.htmhttp://awakeningtruth.org/blog/?p=38 Some monastics and scholars also consider it to be an inaccurate interpretation of the vinaya and other texts,https://sujato.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/the-five- points/http://blogs.dickinson.edu/buddhistethics/2013/06/24/the-revival-of- the-bhikkhuni-order-and-the-decline-of-the-sasana/ similar to the Three-Fifths Compromise in the United States Constitution or other codified examples of discrimination such as coverture. In addition, the violations of national law that had been sought to avoid were distinct from the vinaya itself, as argued by Ajahn Brahmavaṁso on the same matter.Betts, P. (2009, November 8). Open letter to all from Ajahn Brahm on his exclusion by Wat Pah Pong. The Buddhist Channel. Retrieved from http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,8667,0,0,1,0. Despite Ajahn Sumedho's best efforts at balancing contending interests, many female monastics living at Amaravati at the time left the monastery citing discrimination and lack of compassion on the part of Amravati leadership. Subsequently, several sīladharās from this group founded a community in the United States.http://saranaloka.org/ Along with numerous other women in recent years, these former Sīladharās have taken full bhikkhunī ordination.http://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=Bhikkhuni_ordinationhttp://www.bhikkhuni.net/news/ References Bibliography Category:Thai Forest Tradition Category:Buddhism in Sri Lanka Category:Theravada Buddhist orders Category:Religious occupations "