10/15/2026
Happy birthday to Emma Blood French!
Emma A. Blood was born in Manchester on October 15, 1853. She was one of six children born to Aretas and Lavinia (Kendall) Blood. The family lived at 154 Lowell Street. Emma was educated in the Manchester schools. After graduating high school, she attended Dr. Gannett's boarding-school, in Boston, where she enjoyed classes in music and art. At 19, she traveled to France and was able to see some of the great works she had studied. Emma is said to have begun Manchester's first Shakespeare Club in 1872.
Emma married Dr. Leonard Melville French on June 1, 1887. Emma gave birth to their only child, Margaret Lavinia on April 20, 1888. The family lived at 142 Lowell Street and 692 Union Street.
Along with the first Shakespeare Club the following immense list comprises Emma's additional endeavours; Woman's Aid and Relief Home (president-founded by her parents 1899; Pembroke Sanitarium (vice-president); District Nursing Association (director). She was a member of Franklin Street Congregational Church, N.H. Soc. of Colonial Dames, D.A.R. Board of Council of the Manchester Institute, Y.M.C.A., Children's Home, Red Cross, Navy League, Y.W.C.A. War Relief (patron), N.H. Memorial Hospital for Women and Children at Concord.
Emma contributed not only her time and energy but also her wealth and vision to Manchester. In 1916 Emma erected and endowed a building for the Institute of Arts and Sciences, an institution in which she had long been interested. Her contribution of this building was meant to support Carpenter's idea of a cultural hub for the city and also provide space for the education of art which she held dear. With sister Elenora, Emma endowed the maternity ward for the Elliot Hospital and in 1918, Emma built and endowed the L. Melville French children's ward for the same, later known as the French Wing.
Emma passed on September 23, 1932 at her summer home in Hampton, New Hampshire. Her obituary heralded her as "New Hampshire's outstanding woman philanthropist". Emma, with her husband Dr. French, are entombed in the Blood Mausoleum in Valley Cemetery, Manchester NH.
