Matilda Dodge Wilson (née Rausch; October 19, 1883 – September 19, 1967), was born Matilda Rausch in

Walkerton, Ontario Walkerton is a Town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within and governed by the municipality of Brockton, Ontario, Brockton. It is the site of Brockton's municipal offices and the county seat of Bruce County, Ontario, Bruce County. I ...

, Canada. Ranked as one of the wealthiest women in the world, Dodge-Wilson was the widow of

John Francis Dodge John Francis Dodge (October 25, 1864 – January 14, 1920) was an American automobile manufacturing pioneer and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company. Biography Dodge was born in Niles, Michigan, where his father ran a foundry and machine s ...

, who co-founded the

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

motor car company in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

with his brother

Horace Elgin Dodge Horace Elgin Dodge Sr. (May 17, 1868 – December 10, 1920) was an American automobile manufacturing pioneer and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company. Early years and business He was born in Niles, Michigan, on May 17, 1868.Burton, Clarence M., ...

. She co-founded the Oakland campus of

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, now

Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...

, with her husband Alfred Wilson, and

John A. Hannah John Alfred Hannah (October 9, 1902 – February 23, 1991) was president of Michigan State College (later Michigan State University) for 28 years (1941–1969), making him the longest serving of MSU's presidents. He is credited with transformi ...

. The new university was built on her estate, Meadow Brook Farms.

Biography

Matilda Rausch was born to German immigrants in

, Canada. She attended public school in Detroit and then attended and graduated from the Gorsline Business College in the same city. In 1902, she began working for the Dodge Motor Company and five years later, she married founder John Dodge. After Dodge's death in 1920, Matilda inherited his share of the Dodge Brothers Company and became one of the wealthiest women in the United States. Soon thereafter, she met

lumber baron A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

Alfred G. Wilson at the First Presbyterian Church in Detroit and they married June 29, 1925. Upon Alfred Wilson's death on April 6, 1962, Matilda again received the bulk of her husband's estate. Matilda and John Dodge had three children,

Frances Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the ...

(1914–1971), Daniel (1917–1938) and Anna Margaret (1919–1924). In addition, she was stepmother to John's three children from his first marriage (one of whom was

Isabel Dodge Sloane Isabel Cleves Dodge Sloane (February 1896 – March 16, 1962) was an American heiress and socialite who owned a major Thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm. Isabel Dodge was the second of three children of Canadian-born Ivy Hawki ...

). Matilda and Alfred Wilson adopted two children, Richard and Barbara.

Political career

Wilson, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, was appointed the 43rd Lieutenant Governor of the state of Michigan in 1940. She was the first woman to serve as Lieutenant Governor of a U.S. state. She was preceded by

Luren Dickinson Luren Dudley Dickinson (April 15, 1859 – April 22, 1943) was an American politician. He served as the 37th governor of Michigan from 1939 to 1941. He holds the record of the oldest person to ever serve as Michigan governor, beginning at the age ...

, Republican, and followed by

Frank Murphy William Francis Murphy (April 13, 1890July 19, 1949) was an American politician, lawyer and jurist from Michigan. He was a Democrat who was named to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940 after a political career that included serving ...

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Meadow Brook Hall and Music Hall

She was the author of ''A Place in the Country'', a guidebook to her home,

Meadow Brook Hall Meadow Brook Hall is a Tudor revival style mansion located at 350 Estate Drive in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It was built between 1926 and 1929 by the heiress to the Dodge automaker fortune, Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband, lumber bar ...

. In it she takes the reader through the mansion and introduces the reader to her art collection which includes works by

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washi ...

, George Romney,

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United State ...

Émile van Marcke Émile van Marcke, born Charles Émile van Marcke de Lummen (15 August 1827, Sèvres – 24 December 1890, Hyeres), was a French cattle painter.Courrier de l'art: Volume 6 Eugène Véron, Paul Leroi - 1886 "A. L'Enclos, épreuve avant la le ...

Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals ( animalière). She also made sculpture in a realist style. Her paintings include '' Ploughing in the Nivernais'', fi ...

Justus Sustermans Justus Sustermans, Joost Sustermans or Suttermans, his given name Italianised to Giusto (Antwerp, 28 September 1597 – Florence, 23 April 1681), was a Flemish painter and draughtsman who is mainly known for his portraits. He also painted histor ...

and

Louis Betts Louis Betts (October 5, 1873 – August 13, 1961) was an American portrait painter. Biography Betts was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. His father was an artist who remarried after Louis' mother died. His family moved to Chicago where his three y ...

. During the later 1920s, Wilson hired the Detroit architectural firm of

Smith Hinchman & Grylls SmithGroup is an international architectural, engineering and planning firm. Established in Detroit in 1853 by architect Sheldon Smith, SmithGroup is the longest continually operating architecture and engineering firm in the United States that ...

to design two of the Detroit area's notable buildings,

Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts The Music Hall Center for Performing Arts is a 1,731-seat theatre located in the city's theatre district at 350 Madison Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was built in 1928 as the Wilson Theatre, designated a Michigan State Historic Site i ...

(1928) and

(1929). Both were designed by William Kapp and both included

architectural sculpture Architectural sculpture is the use of sculptural techniques by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that a ...

by Detroit sculptor

Corrado Parducci Corrado Giuseppe Parducci (March 10, 1900 – November 22, 1981) was an Italian-American architectural sculptor who was a celebrated artist for his numerous early-20th century works. Early life and education Parducci was born in Buti, Italy, a ...

Final resting place

In 1939, Matilda and Alfred Wilson had constructed a pale granite

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery, designed by New York architect William Henry Deacy and again, featuring sculpture by Corrado Parducci. It is located near the south wall of the Dodge family mausoleum where her first husband was interred in 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Matilda People from Bruce County 1883 births 1967 deaths Oakland University people Lieutenant Governors of Michigan Michigan Republicans Women in Michigan politics Women state constitutional officers of Michigan Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit) 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians

Biography

Political career

Meadow Brook Hall and Music Hall

Final resting place

See also

References