Constance Virginia Carter

Biography

Constance Virginia Carter (1916- 1995)

Constance Virginia Carter was born on 3 April 1916 in Detroit, Michigan, to Anne May McNutlty (1892-1974) and George William Carter (1887-1953). She was an only child in a very wealthy family. Her father was born in North Dakota, and her mother was born in Illinois. Her father, George, was the VP of an insurance company, and her mother stayed at home, keeping the house. Constance's parents got married in 1914 in Illinois.

According to the 1920 American census, when Constance was three and ½, her family was living in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, with Anne's mother, who, at the time, was widowed. Her name was Catherine, and at the time of the 1920 census, she was 50.

The American census once again gives us insight into Constance's life in 1930. In 1930, her family was obviously very wealthy. She has both a maid and a cook living in her house at the time. Her family also owned a house valued at $35,000 in 1930. In 2023, that would be the equivalent of $645,066.77.

In 1935, Constance attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, an all-girls college. In 1939, she graduated with a BA. It is unclear whether she was active in the Wellesley community other than a news article from 26 November 1935 talking about Constance throwing a party, the first in Wellesley's history to be considered a "coming out" party. It included tea, her parents, the dean, and other members of the Wellesley community. So, from that, we can observe that while she was not active in the school community, she sure was a party girl.

On 5 March 1937, Constance and her soon-to-be husband, Arthur, attended a junior promenade at MIT. They were at table 18.

On 4 February 1939, Constance married Arthur Sylvester Douglass Jr., but not in the way that one would think. The marriage happened in Vermont, and she registered her name as C. Virginia Carter lied about who her parents were, her occupation, and her residence. She claimed her residence was at the Tourraine Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. She lied about her parent's names, putting them down as "Peter Carter and Catherine James." She also put down on the certificate that she was an actress – which makes it very ironic.

Later, in December of 1939, Constance got "officially" married. Her parents sent out tons of invitations and notices in the newspapers. She wore pink to her wedding, which may indicate that she had already been married. During this year as well, she was living on W. Chicago Boulevard.

The 1940 census gives us another look into Constance's life. In 1940, she was living in New York, New York with her husband. They were living on East 73 Street at the time; their living situation was that they were renting. Her husband was labelled as being a designer.

In 1940, Arthur, Constance's husband, was drafted for World War II. His draft card gives us insight into their living situation at the time. Their phone number was "BuT. 8 - 3271. They lived at 28 E 73 Street, and he was listed as self-employed.

In the 1950 census, Constance and her husband were still living in New York. It is unclear if they lived in the same building, but they did have an addition to their household. In the census listed below, Constance is the name of a maid "Catherine Kelliher." According to the census, Catherine was from Ireland, never married, and was born around 1910, making her 40 years old at the time. She is listed as a "cookhouseoworker" and is said to have worked 54 hours a week.

In 1953, Constance's father passed away at 67 years old. It is unclear how this affected her, but this left behind her mother to be a widow.

In 1964, Ancestry lists Constance as living in Michigan. Assumedly, her husband went with her. In the same year, she also attended the annual Doric Debutante Cotillion. Those in attendance included Prince and Princess Alexis Droutzkoy.

On 7 May 1974, Constance's mother, Anna, passed away. She was 82 years old at the time.

On 10 April 1995, Arthur, Constance's husband, passed away. He was 80 years old.

Soon, Constance followed her husband. On 16 May 1995, Constance passed away. She was still living at her residence in New York at the time. She was 79 years old.

Unfortunately, Constance and Arthur had no children in their lifetime, so their story stopped their. There was little evidence surrounding their lives besides the census records, random newspaper clippings, and marriage records. The two had a wild life together from the sounds of the double marriage they successfully had.

Another thing we encountered when searching for Constance is another book with her nameplate in Uruguay. The book is called Coaching Days and Coaching Ways. Currently, the book is selling for $1500 in November of 2023.

We tracked Constance down through a book at the Robertson Library called "The Poems of George Hebert." These books included her nameplate and other people's names on the Booklives site: Angie Clara Chapin and Dorothy Bruce.

Her nameplate is decorated with two lions in the middle with a statement in Latin: Virtus Vera Nobilitas meaning "Virtue is true nobility." On the other side of the page is a letter written to Miss Chapin from Dorothy Bruce, along with two different points of interest. For the sake of Constance, 210 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, is interesting as the writing is different from that of Dorothy Bruce. It is unsure what significance this address had, so it remains a mystery.

Bibliography
“6 Young Women Make Their Bows At Doric Cotillion; Debutante Event Held at Metropolitan Club in the Great Hall.” The New York Times. 27 December 1964. Accessed 2 November 2023.
1920 American Census Accessed through Family Search. Accessed 1 November 2023.
1942 Record Number of the Wellesley College Bulletin. Accessed through Wellesley College Digital Repository. Accessed 30 October 2023. (Shout out to the Librarians at Wellesley College).
Application (SS-5) Files, 1936 - 2007 (Last Names C through D). Accessed through NARA -AAD “The National Archives.” Accessed 31 October 2023. See page 392.
Arthur Sylvester Douglass Jr 1915-1955. Accessed on 7 November 2023 through Ancestry.ca.
Constance Carter Douglass in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947. Accessed on 7 November 2023 through Ancestry.ca.
Constarce Douglas in the 1940 United States Federal Census. Accessed on 7 November 2023 through Ancestry.ca.
Constance Douglass in the 1950 United States Federal Census. Accessed on 7 November 2023 through Ancestry.ca.
Constance Virginia Carter Family Tree Search. Accessed on 7 November 2023 through Ancestry.ca.
Constance V Carter in the 1930 United States Federal Census Accessed on 7 November 2023 through Ancestry.ca.

Constance Virginia Carter in the Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952. Accessed on November 7 2023 through Ancestry.ca.
C. Virginia Carter in the Vermont, U.S., Marriage Records, 1909-2008. Accessed through Ancestry.ca. 4 February 1939. Accessed 7 November 2023.
Death Files C through D: Arthur S. Douglass. Accessed through NARA - AAD “The National Archives.” Accessed 31 October 2023.
George W Carter.” Family Search. Accessed 1 November 2023.
The Wellesley Legenda 1939 Accessed 24 October 2023. See page 135.
Voo Doo, The MIT Comic Monthly. Volume XX, issue 2. March 1937. See page 16.
“Wellesley Debutante Gives Party at College.” 26 November 1935. The Boston Globe. Accessed 1 November 2023.