Florence Peshine Eagleton

Florence Peshine Eagleton (April 16, 1870 – November 22, 1953[1]) was a leader in the woman suffrage movement and advocated women's higher education. She was one of the first women to serve as a Trustee of Rutgers University. She willed more than $1,000,000 to establish the Wells Phillips Eagleton and Florence Peshine Eagleton Foundation, now the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.[2]

Florence Peshine Eagleton
Eagleton circa 1900-1920
Born
Florence Peshine

April 16, 1870
DiedNovember 22, 1956(1956-11-22) (aged 86)
OccupationPhilanthropist
SpouseWells Phillips Eagleton
Parent(s)Francis Stratford Peshine
Elizabeth Mary Jellip

Biography

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She was born in Newark, New Jersey to Elizabeth Mary Jellip and Francis Stratford Peshine. Francis was a shoe dealer. They were reasonably affluent as is borne out by the fact that in 1880 they had three live-in servants.[3][4] She married a man twice her age, and that marriage ended in divorce. In 1913 she married Wells Phillips Eagleton (1865-1946), a neurosurgeon.[5] She was a trustee of the Newark Museum, a vice president of the Travelers Aid Society, and a life member of the New Jersey Historical Society.[6] She died on November 22, 1956.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Obituary for Florence Peshine Eagleton (Aged 76)". Daily News. 1953-11-25. p. 97. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  2. ^ "Eagleton celebrates anniversary". Daily Targum. Retrieved 2008-05-01.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ 1880 US Census; Newark, New Jersey with Eagletons
  4. ^ a b "Mrs. Wells Eagleton, Rutgers Trustee, 83". The New York Times. November 24, 1953. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  5. ^ "Wells P. Eagleton". The New York Times. September 13, 1946.
  6. ^ Maxine N. Lurie, Marc Mappen; Encyclopedia of New Jersey
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