Mary Porter Tileston Hemenway (1820 – 6 March 1894) was an American
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. She sponsored the
Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition
The Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition occurred between 1886 and 1894 in the American Southwest. Sponsored by Mary Tileston Hemenway, a wealthy widow and philanthropist, the expedition was initially led by Frank Hamilton Cushing, who ...
(1886-1894), the first of its kind to the American Southwest.
She also initiated a variety of activities related to improving education and homemaking skills for girls, opening the first kitchen in a public school in the United States.
She also founded a normal school for gymnastics training for girls, treating the whole person.
Early years
She was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1820, the daughter of Thomas Tileston (1796-1864), one of the wealthiest shipping merchants in the city, and Mary (née Porter) Tileson.
In 1840, Tileston married
Edward Augustus Holyoke Hemenway (1803–1876), a Boston merchant seventeen years older, and moved to his city. They first lived in a house at the corner of Tremont and Beacon streets. By 1845, they moved to Winthrop Square. In 1853, they moved to a house on the corner of Mt. Vernon and Walnut streets, on
Beacon Hill.
They had several children: daughters Charlotte Augusta Hemenway (1841-1865), Alice (d. in infancy), Amy Hemenway (1848-1911), who married Louis Cabot; and Edith (~1851-1904). Their son,
Augustus Jr. (1853–1931), married
Harriet Lawrence.
Career
After her eldest daughter Charlotte's death in 1865, at the age of 24, Hemenway became more involved in philanthropy. She worked to strengthen education in the South, improve homemaking skills among girls, and promote knowledge of the American past. She was a member of
James Freeman Clarke
James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American minister, theologian and author.
Biography
Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though h ...
's Church of the Disciples.
In 1876 Hemenway donated $100,000 to save the
Old South Meeting House
The Old South Meeting House is a historic Congregational church building located at the corner of Milk and Washington Streets in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston, Massachusetts, built in 1729. It gained fame as the organizing point for th ...
from destruction.
She sponsored summer vacation schools, founded the Boston Normal School of Cookery in 1887 to train teachers, promoted a conference on physical training, and established the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics in 1889.
As a wealthy widow, she continued such philanthropic activity, making large contributions to American archeology. The Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition (1886-1894), which was the first major scientific archaeological expedition undertaken in the American Southwest, was sponsored by Hemenway. Her ambition was to establish a private museum called the Pueblo Museum at Salem,
, to be based on the expedition's archaeological finds.
The expedition did find and identify the prehistoric
Hohokam
Hohokam () was a culture in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 AD, with cultural precursors possibly as early as 300 BC. Archaeologists disagree about ...
culture in the Southwest.
Death and legacy
The expedition was terminated in 1894 with the death of Hemenway.
She died in a diabetic coma at her home on Beacon Hill.
She is remembered on the
Boston Women's Heritage Trail
The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating w ...
.
References
External links
*
Mary Tileson Hemenway Portrait Wellesley College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemenway, Mary Tileston
1820 births
1894 deaths
Philanthropists from New York (state)
Deaths from diabetes
People from New York City
19th-century American philanthropists
People from Beacon Hill, Boston