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410 MOTION PICTURES I 922-I 945
that it was the climax of the Association activities for the first seven years.
And it was certainly a satisfaction to me to see this healthy sentiment find another effective way to influence Hollywood: Mrs. Winter was chosen to represent the organized women of the country in their relations with the industry. Mrs. John F. Sippel, then president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, put it picturesquely when she said, following Mrs. Winter's acceptance, "We all knew there was an open doorway, but we wanted a woman within the portals to whom we could go."
Alice Ames Winter, now deceased, was one of the most remarkable women I have ever known. Her spirit was contagious; her ideals were high; her judgment was sound; her loyalty and courage boundless. In the intricate process of building higher motion picture standards she was a substantial factor. To tell how she worked in Hollywood from 1929 to 1942 would be too long a story. But here I must try at least to set down something of her amazing personality, her background, her wide interests, and the "drive" she gave to anything she did. My memory was refreshed when I recently had a visit with her daughter, Mrs. Paul McGinnis, whose husband has made quite a study of her mother's life. They gave me some glimpses of Mrs. Winter's earlier days that shed light on her character.
As I would have expected, her roots went deep into a rich American heritage. Her father, Charles Gordon Ames, pastor of a Unitarian church in Boston, moved to Minnesota in the early days. Visitors to his home never failed to notice, in almost every room, copies of his favorite motto: "Always Leave Things Better Than You Find Them," which evidently made a lasting impression on the daughter. Her father had been a friend of Emerson, Longfellow, and the other "Transcendentalists," among whose distinguishing beliefs was a lively hope for "a better world."
Mrs. Winter's middle years were full of activity centered in Minneapolis and, as national president of the GFWC, reaching out into the whole country. She was only a little over five feet in height and "very broad" (her daughter's words), and her vitality and energy seemed unlimited. Everyone liked her; all felt her charm. In almost any group she was apt to become the center of attention. Her civic record, especially her influence in the "Better Homes in America" movement, is memorialized in the Alice Ames Winter Cottage in Minneapolis. She was a member of Herbert Hoover's Food-Saving Committee for Minnesota, a part of the State Council of Defense. On the advisory committee of the Washington Disarmament Conference of 1 92 1, she was the only woman delegate representing an organization —the General Federation. Still earlier, I had met her in connection