Caroline Hazard (June 10, 1856 – March 19, 1945) was an American educator, philanthropist, and author. She served as the fifth president of

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

, from 1899 to 1910.

Early life

Caroline Hazard was born in

Peace Dale, Rhode Island Peace Dale (also spelled Peacedale) is a village in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Together with the village of Wakefield, it is treated by the U.S. Census as a component of the census-designated place identified as Wakefield-Peacedale ...

in 1856. Her father was industrialist Rowland Hazard II (1829–1898) and her mother was Margaret A. Hazard, ''née'' Rood. She was educated at the Mary A. Shaw School in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

and received private tutoring at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and in Europe. She conducted

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

programs in Peace Dale, and wrote on a variety of topics, including biography, poetry, and Rhode Island history. She was the founder of the Peace Dale Museum of Art and Culture in 1892.

President of Wellesley College

Hazard succeeded Julia J. Irvine as president of

on March 8, 1899. In her inaugural address, she spoke about the changing role of women in society, the necessity of balancing emotion and intellect, and her new responsibilities. As president, Hazard took an active role in the construction of new buildings. She solicited suggestions from architect

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

on the design of residence halls. She oversaw the construction of the Observatory, Observatory House, Hazard Quadrangle, and Library, and personally contributed funds for some of these projects. These buildings, as well as Hazard's house in Peace Dale, were marked with a

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

shell, a personal symbol she adopted in reference to a poem by

Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

. Through Hazard's leadership, fundraising efforts, and personal donations, the college's enrollment doubled, academic departments were expanded, and faculty salaries were increased.

Later life and legacy

Caroline Hazard continued to act as a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of Wellesley College from her retirement in 1910 until 1927. She maintained a residence in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

and made frequent visits there. After her brother Rowland's death in 1918, Hazard took his place on the board of the

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in Santa Barbara, California. It reconnects more than 150,000 people each year (including their 5,700 members) to nature indoors and outdoors. Nestled in nature, the museum ...

, and donated land to expand its buildings. She also led an initiative to purchase land which later became part of Mission Park. She was awarded honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

degrees from numerous institutions, including Wellesley,

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

, and

Rhode Island State College The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

. Hazard died in Santa Barbara on March 19, 1945, and was buried in Oak Dell Cemetery,

South Kingstown, Rhode Island South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind New ...

. She was inducted into the

Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame was established in the State of Rhode Island in 1965. Its mission statement states that the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame "exists to honor and recognize, and to extol and publicize the achievements of th ...

in 2010.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazard, Caroline 1856 births 1945 deaths American philanthropists People from South Kingstown, Rhode Island Presidents of Wellesley College Hazard family of Rhode Island