Florence Peshine Eagleton

Florence Peshine Eagleton (April 16, 1870 – November 22, 1956) 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.[1]

Florence Peshine Eagleton
Eagleton circa 1900-1920
Born
Florence Peshine

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

Biography

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.[2][3] She married a man twice her age, and that marriage ended in divorce. In 1913 she married Wells Phillips Eagleton (1865-1946), a neurosurgeon.[4] 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.[5] She died on November 22, 1956.[3]

References
  1. "Eagleton celebrates anniversary". Daily Targum. Retrieved 2008-05-01. The institute was established in 1956 when Florence Peshine Eagleton, active in the League of Women Voters, gave Rutgers an endowment to be used to promote civic education, said Chris Lenart, Eagleton's Education Programs director.
  2. 1880 US Census; Newark, New Jersey with Eagletons
  3. "Mrs. Wells Eagleton, Rutgers Trustee, 83". The New York Times. November 24, 1953. Retrieved 2007-05-20. Mrs. Florence Peshine Eagleton, a descendant of old Newark families and a leader in educational and feminist movements, died last night at her home ...
  4. "Wells P. Eagleton". The New York Times. September 13, 1946. Wells P. Eagleton, M.D., husband of Florence Peshine Eagleton of 212 Etwood Ave., Newark, N. J., at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Wednesday, ...
  5. Maxine N. Lurie, Marc Mappen; Encyclopedia of New Jersey
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