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Bina West
Founder of the
Woman's Life Insurance Society
In 1891, Bina M. West was a 24-year-old schoolteacher in rural
St. Clair County, Michigan. It was a time when women had few
rights, few opportunities for personal growth, and little
financial value placed on their contributions to society. Women
could not vote, could not serve on juries, and were generally
unable to obtain life insurance due to the high mortality risk
from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. In spite of this
prevailing attitude, Miss West recognized that women were
independent individuals with their own financial needs and
political concerns separate from their husbands'.
At the same time, Miss West saw firsthand the tragic impact of
such an attitude when the mother of two of her most promising
young students died. Of course, there was no insurance on the
mother's life and the father could not afford to hire a
housekeeper or nanny to care for the children. He found it
necessary to place the children in separate foster homes, denying
them a normal family life and the opportunity for a formal
education. Later, Bina learned that the girl was hired out as a
domestic servant and the boy was sent to work in a livery stable.
Bina had a difficult time accepting the cruelty of their fates, as
well as the fates of many similar families headed by women. This
heart-wrenching breakup of a family was not uncommon during Bina
West's days, but it catapulted her into action. She was determined
to give women something of their own -- an organization that would
build their net worth by providing insurance for them and also
serve as a fraternal society of women dedicated to bolstering
their self-worth.
And so the Woman's Benefit Association, now Woman's Life
Insurance Society, was born. In 1892, with $500 in borrowed
capital, Bina West founded in Michigan one of the first fraternal
benefit societies established for and managed by women. Besides
insurance, the Society provided women with new social outlets,
assistance in times of need, and opportunities to display and
develop their unique talents. The Society emphasized financial
support for the home, along with education, patriotism,
recreation, social involvement and volunteer service, providing
varied opportunities for women to expand their previously limited
horizons.
To recruit members and sell life insurance certificates, Miss
West traveled alone, often by horse and buggy, throughout the
United States and Canada, asking women to band together for mutual
benefit, entertainment and expression. Within 10 years, membership
had reached 100,000. As the Society grew, countless women were
employed at the Port Huron-based Home Office and as state managers
and deputies throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Striving to strengthen the reputation of fraternal benefit
societies and to ensure their endurance, Bina West was a pioneer
in encouraging regulators to adopt standard insurance rates and
reserve requirements for insurers to guarantee that funds would
always be available to pay claims. Although women were still
strangers to the business community, by 1906 she had achieved for
her own Society a $1 million reserve fund. Woman's Life
Insurance Society members are still enjoying the benefits of
the keen business sense Miss West employed during her 56 1/2-year
tenure as chief executive. The Society has weathered various
economic storms, including the Great Depression, and remains one
of the leading financially secure fraternal benefit societies in
North America today.
Miss West was a vocal supporter of the women's suffrage movement,
representing the National Council of Women of the United States at
the International Council of Women in Geneva, Switzerland, in
1908. Later she made speeches throughout the U.S. and Canada and
in several European and Near Eastern countries, urging that women
be given the right to vote. Summing up her belief in women's
rights and capabilities, she said, "Women of our society have, by
their acknowledged success in the business world, proven their
ability to think and act in matters of public importance."
Bina West was highly respected as a businesswoman, a fraternalist,
a social worker, and a women's rights activist. Various state and
national appointments throughout her career attested to her
reputation. The importance of the Society's work was acknowledged
by the attendance of Michigan Governor Albert E. Sleeper and U.S.
Senator Charles E. Townsend at the dedication of the Society's
stately new Home Office building in Port Huron in 1917. In 1923,
U.S. Senator Hiram W. Johnson of California wrote to Miss West:
"Your Society has always had my admiration. Its ideals for the
betterment of women and the preservation of the home strike a
sympathetic chord with us all." When the University of Michigan
conferred upon her an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts in 1924,
Miss West was cited for "courage in pioneering a woman's
institution to unparalleled success." This event was described in
the press as "a tribute to the state's outstanding career woman."
She was also described by the Associated Press as "one of the five
greatest women in America." In 1993, the Michigan Women's Hall of
Fame honored Miss West as an inductee into the Hall of Fame.
Bina West was described by those familiar with her as "a
believer in womankind" and "a woman's woman." As demonstrated in
her own words, she believed that a woman's potential knows no
bounds: "There is nothing unusual about success. I only carried
out my ideas. Too many people fail because they are afraid of
other people's opinions. Especially this is true of women. The
only thing to do is to go ahead."
~*~
Used by permission from Woman's Life Insurance
Society. You can visit them at:
http://www.womanslife.org/
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