Cole, Anna Russell (1846–1926)

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Cole, Anna Russell (1846–1926)

American philanthropist. Born Anna Virginia Russell, Jan 16, 1946, in Augusta, Georgia; died June 6, 1926, near Nashville, Tennessee; dau. of Henry F. Russell (mayor of Augusta, GA) and Martha (Danforth) Russell; sister of Whitefoord Russell (killed in Civil War); took courses at Wesleyan College and University of Berlin; m. Edmund W. Cole (railroad magnate), Dec 25, 1872; children: Whitefoord Russell (b. 1874) and Anna Russell (b. 1889).

Encouraged husband to help fund the Randal Cole Institute (renamed Tennessee Industrial School), the temperance cause (1887), and Methodist Church missions, among others; after husband's death, provided financial support to Vanderbilt University; entertained several presidents in her Nashville home, Colemere; contributed generously to Southern Sociological Congress; erected classical monument to 4 noted Southern poets; supported Woodrow Wilson's fight for League of Nations.