CANTIDAD:

500

RESUMEN

Elizabeth Goodridge Houghton (May 15, 1851 – Jan. 22, 1934), philanthropist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to William Stevens Houghton, a businessman, and his first wife, Abbie Frances Goodridge. Although Elizabeth was the only child of her father’s first marriage, her father’s second marriage to Sarah Jane Topliff resulted in four more siblings, of which only one half-brother, Clement Stevens Houghton, survived. Elizabeth was described as an outstanding figure who “took her wealth as a responsibility” and gave unstintingly of it and of herself. Like her father, Elizabeth often donated anonymously, preferring to contribute in silence.

Houghton graduated from Vassar College as part of the class of 1873. In 1896, she and her brother Clement donated $100,000 to go towards a chapel in Wellesley College in memory of their father, who was a trustee there. The William S. Houghton Memorial Chapel has since served as a center of community life at Wellesley College providing a critical space for College ceremonies and traditions, and serving as a Multifaith Center on campus since 2008. Her support of the 1900 Summer School for Cuban teachers at Harvard —she donated $500— most likely was also connected to Wellesley, since many of the women associated with the Summer School, like Katherine Lee Bates, taught there.

Elizabeth Goodridge Houghton died on January 22, 1934. She was 82 years old.

Further Reading.

1. “William Stevens Houghton,” in Memorial Biographies of the New England Historic Genealogical Society vol. 9 (1908): 171