Sibylla Bailey Crane

Sibylla Bailey Crane (, Bailey; July 30, 1851 – January 31, 1902) was an American educator, musical composer, and author. Her benevolent work included that of the church, the educational institutions of Massachusetts, the general theological library, and the prisons and reformatory schools of the state.

Early life and education Sibylla Adelaide Bailey was born in East Boston, Massachusetts, July 30, 1851. She was the only child of Henry and Elizabeth (Bellamy) Bailey. Her father was a contractor and builder. His ancestors were residents of Scituate, Massachusetts. Her mother, a native of Kittery, Maine, was the daughter of John H. and Fanny (Keen) Bellamy and grand-daughter of John Bellamy, Jr., of Kittery, who married November 21, 1791, Tamsen, daughter of Samuel King and Mary (Orne) Haley. On the maternal side, she was a descendant of Rev. Dr. Joseph Bellamy, the theologian, and on the paternal side, from one of the Mayflower Pilgrims.

Crane was educated in the public schools of Boston.

Her musical compositions were sung by her in the prisons and hospitals which she visited in her philanthropic work. As an essayist, she evinced especial adaptation, having been called to read her articles throughout Massachusetts. She was an Associate Member of the New England Woman's Press Association.

She was for several years treasurer of the New England Women's Club and a member of the Executive Council of the Boston Woman's Business League, also a director in the Woman's Club House Corporation, a member of the Woman's Charity Club, of the Moral Education Association, of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, of the beneficent society connected with the New England Conservatory of the Cercle Francais de l'Alliance, and of the Society for the University Education of Women. the American Oriental Society, and the Boston Browning Society.

Personal life and legacy

On September 1, 1891, she married in Boston, the Rev. Dr. Oliver Crane, a native of Montclair, New Jersey, and a graduate of Yale College, class of 1845. Dr. Crane had been a missionary in Turkey for some years in his early manhood, and later, pastor of various Presbyterian churches. Before marriage, Mrs. Crane had made a brief trip to Europe. After that event, she accompanied her husband in an extended foreign tour, travelling in the British Isles, on the Continent, and in the East, spending a winter in Cairo and visiting Syria, the scene of Dr. Crane's missionary labors many years before. A large number of photographs and other souvenirs attested the assiduity with which their labors as collectors were pursued, from the pyramids of Egypt to the Alhambra. On their return from abroad, they took up their residence in Boston. Here Dr. Crane died on November 29, 1896.

Sibylla Bailey Crane died in Boston, January 31, 1902.

Selected works Books Glimpses of the Old World (1881)

Essays "Cordova under the Moors in the Tenth Century" "The History of Music from the early Egyptian down to the present time"