Phoebe Hearst

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Phoebe Hearst, around 1865
Phoebe Hearst, around 1890
Phoebe Hearst with Benjamin Ide Wheeler, around 1913

Phoebe Appserson Hearst (born December 3, 1842 in Franklin County , Missouri , † April 14, 1919 in Pleasanton , California ) was an American philanthropist and was considered a promoter of women's education in California.

Life

In 1861, the only 19-year-old elementary school teacher Phoebe Apperson married in St. Louis George Hearst (1820-1891), a multimillionaire who had become rich through mining and agriculture . After the marriage, the couple moved to San Francisco , where they gave birth to their only child, William Randolph (1863–1951). In addition to the social representations that filled the social columns of the newspapers, she was involved in several charitable organizations.

In 1886, her husband ran for Republican Senate elections , and after the election was successful, he took office in early 1887 , which took him and his family to Washington, DC . Phoebe began a lively social life in Washington, directly supporting George's political work, lobbying and creating connections on a variety of causes that her husband could subsequently use. After her husband's death, Phoebe Hearst became the sole heir to a huge fortune and moved back to Pleasanton.

In the course of her later life, Phoebe Hearst was able to support the educational institutions and especially women's education in California in many ways. These included a kindergarten teacher training center, and in 1887 she founded the first free kindergarten in the United States. In 1891, Hearst founded a scholarship program for female students at Berkeley University, and six years later she founded the National Congress of Mothers , a forerunner of the parent council . In the same year Phoebe Hearst was elected as the first female dean at the University of California , which she held until her death. She was particularly interested in American archeology , and traveled to Acre and Haifa in Palestine (now Israel ). They were close friends with Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter . In 1901, financed by her, the Hearst Museum for Anthropology was founded at the University of California , including finds from expeditions by well-known researchers such as Alfred Kroeber , George Andrew Reisner and Max Uhle .

Phoebe Hearst died at the age of 76 in Pleasanton of complications from the Spanish flu and was buried in the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

Worth mentioning

literature

  • Kathleen D. McCarthy: Lady Bountiful Revisited. Rutgers University Press, New York 1990, ISBN 0-8135-1611-0
  • Alexandra M. Nickliss: Phoebe Apperson Hearst: The Most Powerful Woman in California. Dissertation Abstracts International, 1994, ISBN 0-5911-0327-3
  • Winifred Black: The Life and Personality of Phoebe Apperson Hearst. San Francisco 1928
  • Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By. Bahá'í Pub. Trust, Wilmette 1974, ISBN 0-87743-020-9

Web links

Commons : Phoebe Hearst  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Hearst, Phoebe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hearst, Phoebe Apperson (full name); Apperson, Phoebe (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American philanthropist and advocate for women's education in California
DATE OF BIRTH December 3, 1842
PLACE OF BIRTH Franklin County , Missouri
DATE OF DEATH April 14, 1919
Place of death Pleasanton , California