She has the penetrating gaze of one who has earned the right to wear dowdy clothes. Not that it's a crime to wear dowdy clothes. In fact, some days, I'm convinced it's a badge of honor.

I knew she looked like someone I'd admire, even before I googled her.

What it cries out for is a single droopy daisy.

I'd never heard of this woman, but after reading her bio (link is in Yooler's post) I'm sitting here with my jaw hanging open. How many people accomplish a tenth of what she did in one lifetime? (Answer: Very few.) I've got to submit this now so I can get busy and start doing something to justify my time here on earth. She sure did.

in charge of her own fate. I'm rhinking her hair drops nearly to her waist. I'm in love with her. Good woman to have on your side.

Prim would be an upgrade.

The one this photo tells is remarkable. I love to find the back stories behind the shots, and this portrait of Miss Balch is remarkable.

What a remarkable woman this was! She'd been active since the 1890s, and very involved with the formation of the League of Nations. She'd even gained fame by being fired by Wellesley, where she had tenure, for her pacifist activities! She then becaame editor of The Nation.

So it's possible that one of the directors of numerous script writers/contributors might have been making a specific reference to an officious single female "townsperson" who thought she knew better than everyone else what was necessary for the good of a community.

She was a wonderful woman. Thank you for introducing her to us.

What gravitas. I bet she could stop traffic with that look. The hat is ... shall we say, incongruous?

her intelligence, her energy, her dedication and moral clarity, I would more than happily take her looks too, which are after all very handsome. And she lived to be 94 so presumably pretty healthy too.

Do take a minute to "Google" her - a very interesting woman and a very interesting life.

The dress and hat aren't flattering -- by the 1930s styles and lines were much simpler and she looked much better, in a severe way.

Born to privilege and gifted with a sharp intellect, she possessed a deep empathy for the poor and a hatred for the slaughter of war and the inherent oppression of women's rights and racism. Miss Balch spent her life striving to eradicate those evils.

She would look a lot better if she were a bit more fashionable; I bet that even in 1920 those clothes were pretty dowdy!

Hat

Any of you guys who've won a Nobel are allowed to comment on her physicality.

No? Don't have one on you? Then shut yer piehole. For crying out loud. Get to work on your own face.

Scenario: Emily Balch and Inez Thomas cross paths in the studio that day. They shake hands. Blinding flash of light -- mutual annihilation ensues, with only a few quarks and leptons left to tell the tale.

She looks like one's maiden aunt.

Miss "Balch?"

You mean, Miss "Gulch?"

Still a young woman at the time (just 53!), she lived well into her 90s after winning the Nobel at age 79.