Martha Gasquet Westfeldt

Martha Gasquet Westfeldt was an artist, philanthropist, political activist, and civic leader in New Orleans, Louisiana in the first half of the 20th C.

Amongst her accomplishments:

• becoming a leading member of the Louisiana Women’s Committee to oppose the corrupt Huey Long administration
• serving as a private in the New Orleans chapter of the Red Cross Ambulance and Motor Corps during World War I
• leading "Free French and France Forever" efforts and helping refugees defect under the Vichy regime, for which she was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor
• fundraising and gathering material donations for European civilians during World War II, for which Belgium granted her the Silver Medal of the Order of the Crown
• funding pottery classes for underprivileged children
• creating a lending library of artworks at the New Orleans Public Library

Sources

• https://www.hnoc.org/virtual/voices-progress/martha-gasquet-westfeldt
• https://www.frenchquarterjournal.com/archives/that-heathen-crowd-at...
• https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90201745
• https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/00877/
• http://archives.nolalibrary.org/~nopl/mss/westfeldt.htm