Natalie, Lady Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton
Lady Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton was born Natalie Scarritt Wales in
Cohasset, Massachusetts in 1909. She grew up in Boston and New York
City. From her earliest years, she was a generous, outgoing and
enthusiastic person of drive and great optimism.
Her career
began in 1939 when she learned of the devastation and isolation of
Great Britain in the early years of World War II. She took the train
to Washington, D.C. to ask the British Ambassador, Lord Lothian,
what Britain needed that ordinary Americans could supply.
Lord Lothian inquired, and the answer came back: knitted Balaclava
helmets for the merchant navy, who were suffering from exposure and
freezing temperatures shepherding convoys in the North Atlantic.
These head coverings needed to be of a uniform, almost-black navy
blue wool of a certain weight, and knitting instructions would be
supplied. Undaunted (a quality that served her for the rest of her
life), Natalie contacted wollen mills -- principally Burlington
Mills -- and asked them to supply several tons, not "at cost"
because, as she cheerfully noted, "I have no money", but for free.
The wool was supplied, the knitting began and Natalie organized
Bundles for Britain, which eventually had over two and one-half
million men and women as members, knitting helmets, sweaters,
gloves; rolling bandages and packing medicines; creating clothing
drives, blood drives and canned food drives across the country. She
asked Buckingham Palace for something she could auction off in a
nationwide raffle to raise money. Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen
Mother, sent a red, white and blue (rubies, diamonds and sapphires)
cigarette case and a piece of shrapnel from the bomb that hit
Buckingham Palace. Natalie maintained a cordial relationship with
the Queen, who years later as Queen Mother became the Royal Patron
of The American Scottish Foundation. Later, Natalie joined the Staff
of THE NEW YORK TIMES as assistant to the Publisher.
In 1946,
Natalie was made an honorary Commander of the British Empire for her
services in World War II. She was the first non-British woman to be
so honored.
1947, faced with the growing Soviet threat in
Europe, Natalie and her husband, Edward Bragg Paine, created Common
Cause, Inc, the first "American citizens organization to combat
communism". She turned her dynamism and organizational skills once
again to a cause she believed in, raising funds, holding seminars,
shipping food during the Berlin airlift and using American legal
interventions to shelter refugees-sometimes tin her own home. Her
husband died suddenly in 1951.
In that same year, as a young
American widow she went to England to make a speech about Communism
in the House of Commons. She met
Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton, the
Member of Parliament for Inverness-shire and an ardent
anti-communist. She later married him, and they lived in Scotland
and England for several years. Returning to the United States, Lord
and Lady Malcolm together created The American-Scottish Foundation,
Inc. in 1956, to strengthen the historic ties between Scotland and
the United States in all areas -- educational, cultural, social,
genealogical, philanthropic, scientific and economic.
Articulate, enthusiastic and encouraging, Lady Malcolm worked with
Lord Malcolm to further the goals of the Foundation until he was
tragically killed with his 21-year-old son, Niall, in an airplane
crash in Cameroon, West Africa in 1964.
Devastated by her
loss, Lady Malcolm found some strength in continuing Lord Malcolm's
dreams for the Foundation. In the early 1970s she organized
"Scotland Week" in New York City. She obtained permission from the
Fifth Avenue Association to have crossed American and Scottish flags
on every other lamppost. She asked the famous Fifth Avenue shops
between 60th and 34th Streets to give their front windows (and
inside) a Scottish motif. There was a 2-day Economic Meeting with
Scottish and American economists and professors. There were Scottish
concerts, pipe bands, the Scottish Symphony, an art exhibit and many
parties during the gala week.
Lady Malcolm also inaugurated
The Scottish Ball, one of the most beautiful, memorable and "fun"
events of the social year. It was held, at the Hotel Plaza, and was
eagerly anticipated each year. She also created The Wallace Award,
the single most prestigious event in the Scottish-American calendar
celebrating outstanding achievement primarily of American - Scots.
Lady Malcolm was particularly enthusiastic about creating
Scotland House, a special dream of Lord Malcolm's, to be a central
gathering place for American Scots, visiting Scots, students, people
seeking their Scottish roots--a place for all. The first Scotland
House was opened in the mid-70s at 124 East 39th Street by New York
City Mayor Abraham Beame, and was an instant success. Lectures,
movies, seminars, ceilidhs, dances and teas were held in a
comfortable atmosphere with a large Scottish-American library, and
Scottish products such as sweaters, tweeds, jewelry and china were
for sale. A later Scotland House was on Fifth Avenue in the 80s and
of course the present Scotland House at 575 Madison Avenue.
Lady Malcolm retired from the Foundation in 1989.
She had two daughters, six grandchildren and 11 grandchildren
and retired in Stillwater, New Jersey.
Lady Malcolm passed away, after a busy and fulfilling life, on
January 14, 2013 at the age of 103. Her husband, Lord Malcolm,
had pre-deceased her when killed in an air crash on Mt.
Cameroon, in July 1964.
His Grace The Duke of
Hamilton and Brandon, Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton’s
Great-Grand Nephew, is Patron of the American-Scottish
Foundation®.
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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