Stokes, Olivia Phelps and Caroline Phelps Stokes

American philanthropists who contributed substantial sums to various causes, particularly in the improvement of opportunities for African-Americans through the establishment of the Phelps-Stokes fund.

Stokes, Olivia Phelps (1847–1927). Name variations: Olivia Egleston Phelps. Born Olivia Egleston Phelps Stokes on January 11, 1847, in New York City; died of bronchial pneumonia on December 14, 1927, in Washington, D.C.; daughter of James Boulter Stokes and Caroline (Phelps) Stokes; sister of Caroline Phelps Stokes; educated at home; never married; no children.

Stokes, Caroline Phelps (1854–1909). Born Caroline Phelps Stokes on December 4, 1854, in New York City; died on April 26, 1909, in Redlands, California; daughter of James Boulter Stokes and Caroline (Phelps) Stokes; sister of Olivia Phelps Stokes; educated at home and at Miss Porter's School (founded by Sarah Porter ); never married; no children.

Olivia and Caroline Stokes were two of ten children born to James and Caroline Stokes. The girls' parents were dedicated Christians who filled their home with inspirational literature and allowed their children to associate only with friends whose religious training they approved. The family was wealthy from banking, real estate, and trade, and strongly believed in using their wealth to pursue Christian goals. They were active in the temperance movement, abolitionism, education of blacks, foreign missions, Bible and tract societies, the YMCA, and children's hospitals. The elder Caroline Stokes was a particularly strong influence on her daughters. She emphasized the importance of service to the poor, helped found the Colored Orphan Asylum of New York, and supported black students in the United States and Africa. She also taught a sewing class at the Phelps Chapel.

Unlike their siblings, Caroline and Olivia never married, but chose to live together in devoted companionship. Following their mother's example, they spent their energy and substantial wealth in philanthropic pursuits, in addition to extensive traveling. Among the institutions benefiting from the sisters' generosity were St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University, Yale University, New York Zoological Society, New York Botanical Garden, Berea College, Peabody Home for Aged and Infirm Women in Ansonia, Connecticut, and many missionary causes.

However, the philanthropy for which they are best known did not occur until after the death in 1909 of Caroline, who had struggled for years with rheumatism. In her will, she bequeathed money to build chapels at such notable African-American educational institutions as Tuskegee Institute and Calhoun Colored School in Alabama. She also endowed a fund at Hampton Institute in Virginia to educate blacks and Native Americans. The balance of her estate established the Phelps-Stokes fund, which was dedicated to improving tenement housing in New York and educating Indians, "deserving" white students, and black students in the United States and Africa.

Olivia contributed generously to her sister's fund and, in 1915, had two model tenements built in New York. She wrote several books in her lifetime, including Pine and Cedar: Bible Verses (1885), Forward in the Better Life (1915), Saturday Nights in Lent (1922), and Letters and Memories of Susan and Anna Bartlett Warner (1925). Olivia died in 1927 at the age of 80.

sources:

James, Edward T., ed. Notable American Women, 1607–1950. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1971.

McHenry, Robert, ed. Famous American Women. NY: Dover, 1980.

Barbara Koch , freelance writer, Farmington Hills, Michigan