Educational adaptions

Front matter

Qass.

Book.

REPORT OF TEN YEARS' WORK OF THE PHELPS-STOKES FUND, 1910-1920

Contents

Biographical Sketch of Caroline Phelps Stokes 7

History of the Phelps-Stokes Fund 15

Policies of the Fund 20

Introduction

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF CAROLINE PHELPS STOKES Caroline Phelps Stokes was born in New York, December 4, 1854, at Clifton Cottage on the East River near 30th Street. During her youth the nation was rapidly undergoing changes, and the city in which she was born was fast becoming the metropolis of the coxmtry. Slavery was soon after abolished, and the freedmen required instruction and help in becoming citizens. The poor of New York were in sore need of better housing conditions.

Miss Stokes' ancestors were English and Puritan; among them were men eminent for ability and Christian character. Her grandfather, Thomas Stokes, was born in London, December 13, 1765. In his diary he writes:

United with the Countess of Huntingdon Chapel in the Mulberry Garden, near Ratcliffe Highway, about 1784. Soon after felt very anxious that the gospel might be sent to the heathen and commenced a correspondence with several on the subject. The object was presented to the view of churches in England, Scotland, Wales, through the medium of the Evangelical Magazine, a periodical got up for that express purpose. Profits to the widows of deceased ministers.

This eflfort resulted in the formation of the London Missionary Society in September, 1795, at the Castle & Falcon, Aldersgate St., London. Met with . . . Revs. Thomas Haweis, Matthew Wilkes, Rowland Hill, and many others, ministers and laymen, to consider propriety of forming missionary society for sending the gospel to the heathen. . . . Recorded my name . . . among the first members of this new society, and gave a donation of two guineas. . . . Ship Duff was purchased, twenty-seven missionaries and mechanics were set apart. . . . Spent part of the day with them on board. . . . Resolved to endeavor to obey His commands who said, "Go into (aU) the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

In 1786, united in forming a society to give gratuitous instruction to poor children belonging to the widows of seamen and soldiers who lost their lives in the American War. Work first began with twelve children in 1787. The school was situated on St. George's Road, Cannon Street, Ratcliffe Highway.

In another place he writes: "The Society had under its instruction nearly 200 children, in a brick building, and another building for teachers, etc." He was also associated with Robert Raikes in his earliest efforts to organize Sunday Schools in the city of London and its suburbs.

In 1789, Thomas Stokes chartered a vessel and came to this country, bringing with him his wife and children, a man servant and maid, household furniture and silver. He was a founder of the American Bible Society, the American Tract Society, and the New York Peace Society.

Miss Stokes' mother was descended from Piu-itan ancestors, numbering among them the colonial governors, Thomas Dudley, second Governor of Massachusetts, and John Haynes and George Wyllys, governors of Connecticut. They were men eminent for the faithful service they rendered to the young and growing republic.

Her grandfather, Anson Greene Phelps, was a man of ability and Christian character. He was "president of the New York Colonization Society and of the New York Blind Asylum, and was very active in religious and benevolent works. ... He was one of the founders of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions." He was a founder of the American Tract Society, the Domestic Missionary Society, the Marine Bible Society, and the New York Port Society. He was for a long time a manager of the American Bible Society. He was associated in several of these societies with Miss Stokes' grandfather, Thomas Stokes. At his death he left more money for religious purposes than any man previously had left in the State of New York. Besides other gifts to his grandchildren he left to each $5,000, with the request that the income should be forever devoted to the spread of the gospel.

Miss Stokes' father, James Stokes, "was interested in founding the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, and was director in the Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Greenwich Savings Bank. He visited in Bellevue Hospital and taught a Bible class there. He gave much time to work for public schools." He was interested in the welfare of immigrants and was a trustee of the Young Men's Christian Association.

Mrs. James Stokes was a directress of the New York Colored Orphan Asylum. She was interested in the abolition of slavery and in the advance of temperance, and was untirmg in a quiet, modest way in relieving suffering and turning many from wrong-doing to Christ, by whose help they could resist temptation. Her daughter, not long before her mother's death, asked her what she thought had given her the truest happiness in life. Her mother thought a moment and answered : "Overcoming evil with good."

The good and helpful lives of these ancestors combined in forming the character and influencing the life of Caroline Phelps Stokes. Her early life was spent in happy surroundings. Her grandfather, Anson G. Phelps, lived at that time in a fine Colonial house on the East River which had been built by Henry A. Coster, a wealthy Dutch merchant. At his death his widow married Dr. Hosack, an eminent botanist whose Botanical Garden on Fifth Avenue just below 51st Street was left by his widow to Columbia University. The yew trees that imtil lately stood on either side of the long flight of steps leading to the University Library were from Dr. Hosack's Botanical Garden. Miss Stokes' grandfather had bought the house from Mrs. Hosack, and here her mother was married to James Stokes. On this property, a short distance from the house of Anson G. Phelps, a few years later Mr. and Mrs. James Stokes built their home, calling it Clifton Cottage. A large conservatory which Dr. Hosack had built was included in the cottage.

Here, in a beautiful garden sloping down to the East River, Caroline spent happy days playing under the long row of chestnut trees, or, in the springtime, under the fruit trees in full blossom; sometimes walking down the path bordered by ancient box, hand in hand with her grandfather Phelps, to take early breakfast with him after he had been to the nursery of her mother's house, where he used to trot the children on his knee singing the popular ballad:

Henry Clay was a friend of Anson G. Phelps, and he was anxious to have him become President.

At the age of three she moved with her family to a large and commodious house on Madison Square, where there was also room for a small garden with trees, shrubs, and flowers brought from the place on the East River to keep in remembrance the large and beautiful garden where she and her brothers and sisters had spent a happy childhood. The new house was at 37 Madison Avenue, and the adjoining vacant property, where later the house of Leonard W. Jerome, long occupied by the Union League Club, was built, was used as a cow pasture in the summer and a skating pond in the winter.

Miss Stokes' summers were spent at Ansonia, Connecticut, a town founded by her grandfather, Anson G. Phelps, and named after him. Her mother was fond of reading and impressed on her children its value as a means of education. Her rule for her children was to read histories and serious books in the morning and stories the latter part of the day. Each morning at eleven o'clock on the warm summer days the children and the mother sat on the wide piazza or under the trees while the mother read aloud, the large family of children sewing or engaged in some manual work. The work on Satiu-day morning was paid for, and each child gave the amount to missions. The autumn evenings in the dining-room at Ansonia cannot easily be forgotten, when the household gathered aroimd the old mahogany table brought by Miss Stokes' grandfather, Thomas Stokes, from England. The wood fire biu-ned on the hearth and the mother read aloud by candle-light, while the entire household were engaged in some useful work. Constantly and untiringly a devotedly Christian mother prepared her children for later life.

None of her sisters had been educated away from home, but Miss Stokes early decided that she wished to be sent to a boarding-school, and Miss Porter's school in Farmington, Connecticut, was selected. Here she stood well in her classes, winning the affection and respect of teachers and pupils. One of her fellow-students said that when some act which would be as well left undone was contemplated, Caroline's words, "I wouldn't do that," so earnestly and seriously spoken were sufficient to restrain.

At Farmington she rode, an exercise she delighted in, and in which she excelled. She often spoke of happy early morning rides through the country roads and under the pine trees where beds of pink lady's slippers grew. A frequent companion was her cousin, Grace Dodge, who later in life took such a leading part in helpful work in New York, especially in connection with Teachers College and in the broadening out of the Young Women's Christian Association which enabled it to do such wonderful work in the late war.

On her sixteenth birthday Miss Stokes united with the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, of which Dr. William Adams was then the pastor. On uniting with the church she wrote in her journal: "0 Dear Blessed Jesus, I wish to give myself away, body and soul, to the Blessed Saviour who has died for me. O Blessed Saviour, help me; give me the peace which the world cannot impart; keep me for thine own. After the communion I feel, dear Jesus, how sweet it is to give myself to Thee. May I never regret this day, keep me holy." The closing night of her seventeenth year she wrote: "What have I done this year to make any one better or happier? Have I grown better myself .?• Oh, may I spend the coming year more to God's glory and my own happiness." On her eighteenth birthday she wrote: "With God's help I will endeavor to live the years that still remain with a fixed and determined purpose to do my duty, no matter how hard or disagreeable that duty may be."

In her journal was found the following, which was written the night after she had heard her father's wishes as expressed in his will. "Today we have listened to father's last wishes in regard to earthly things . . . and before I sleep I want to renewedly dedicate myself and all that I have to God and ask that He will show me just how He would have me use what He has entrusted to my care. May I remember that I must give an account of my stewardship and may I in future live to God's glory."

In 1882 at Newport she wrote: "I do want to be useful." Later in life when away from New York she repeatedly attended the Episcopal Chiu-ch and was very much attached to its services. She also, like her mother, felt that the different parts of the Christian church should be united, and was in sympathy with and helped the various branches of the church.

Miss Stokes was not fond of city life, and on returning to New York from Farmington she was not altogether happy. The feeling of the limited space, the poverty and sorrow of the world, often oppressed her. She wrote in her journal, December 2, 1873: "I do not think I like living in a city; there is so much sorrow, sin and distress on every side that the little one can do seems to make little or no impression, and it makes me unhappy to see all the trouble and not do anything to relieve it." She began to try and remove the sorrow and wrong that she saw about her. She taught classes in the Sunday School and sewing school at the Phelps Mission, entering into the lives of her pupils, being their friend and adviser all through her life. She was a member of the Farmington Sewing Class, went once a week to a club for working girls, and later became a manager of the Peabody Home for Aged and Infirm Women. When Mr. Dwight L. Moody held his first meetings in New York, he and Mr. Sankey took Sunday supper at the home of

Mr. and Mrs. James Stokes, and Miss Stokes helped in the services held in the old Madison Square Garden.

Two characteristics of Miss Stokes M'ere definiteness and ability to make quick and accurate decisions. She had a logical mind, a keen insight into character, wanting always to see things exactly as they were, and a delicate sense of humor. Whether in judging the character of people, in making political decisions, in judging what was beautiful in nature and art, or in deciding what was right in conduct. Miss Stokes came to her own conclusions and did not blindly accept the views or opinions of others, although taking them into consideration. She had, especially in the later years of her life, a great love for nature. Her face would glow with pleasure on seeing beautiful scenery or hearing of a noble deed. She was artistic in temperament and painted in water colors and etched. She was interested in the wild flowers and birds, and joined in giving a fund to the New York Botanical Garden for the preservation of wild flowers. She also gave a fund for the protection of wild birds. In this country, and wherever she traveled, she helped to forward humane treatment of animals. Her whole nature was very intense; either sorrow or happiness affected her deeply. Her love of justice was deep and strong, and the definite purpose of her life was to keep God's commandments. The text she repeated more constantly than any other was, "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.''" Next to the strong desire to do right came the wish to help others to help themselves, or practical charity as she called it, and to help them to lead Christ-like lives. She followed her Master, going about doing good.

Miss Stokes was naturally interested in the Negro race. Her grandfather, Anson G. Phelps, when president of the New York Colonization Society, helped to establish the Republic of Liberia. Its first president, J. J. Roberts, made long visits with his wife at the homes of Anson G. Phelps and James Stokes. In 1893 Miss Stokes, during a trip abroad, had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Roberts, then living in London. The first Liberian flag was made at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Stokes.

Miss Stokes was familiar with the conditions in the South and had visited the more important schools for the education of colored people and Indians. She had traveled from Hampton to Tuskegee, the child of Hampton. She had visited Calhoun, although a freshet had broken down the bridge over which she was to drive and caused the river to cover the low lands, obliging her to make a wide detour. But this did not discourage her, and she proceeded until she reached the school, although it took a day longer. She made this journey by carriage so as to better see conditions in the surrounding country. While at Calhoun she sent an account of the school with illustrations to The Churchman.

Among her gifts to the Negro race were an organ to Haines Industrial School, and the Roberts Memorial Scholarship to Tuskegee Institute; she joined in giving to Tuskegee bathhouses, entrance gates, Dorothy Hall — an industrial building for girls — and the chapel. To the New York Colored Orphan Asylum she joined in giving a cottage in memory of her mother.

While spending a winter in Asheville, North Carolina, she more fully realized the need of education for the white population, both North and South, living away from towns. She also felt the responsibility of developing the Indian, the original inhabitant of our country, and she gave aid to Indian education at Hampton and to the work for Indians in California.

While a child she felt the need of better housing for the poor of New York. When the Improved Dwellings Association was formed, her mother became a stockholder, and years afterward Miss Stokes took great interest in the development of the City and Subm-ban Homes Company. She proposed to a member of her family to join with her in building two improved tenements and to put them under the care of this Company, which was done. They were designed especially for the use of colored people, and were erected in a district where large numbers of colored people lived. She gave the name of "Tuskegee" to these two buildings.

Through Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell she became especially interested in Civil Service Reform, and was glad to help by holding a meeting in her home on Madison Square, where Theodore Roosevelt, then Police Commissioner, spoke.

After the death of Miss Stokes' parents she traveled extensively. A journey was made around the world. Wherever she went she investigated philanthropic and Christian work and aided where her judgment approved. During her travels she gave away Testaments and good books where she saw the need. While in India the plague was raging in some parts, and she offered her services to the hospital at Bombay under the management of an English Protestant Sisterhood. She very regretfully decided not to go to the hospital when the Sisters expressed their unwillingness to take the responsibility of having so inexperienced a person in the hospital who could not speak the language, and when she found that her family would remain in India exposed to the plague if she remained. She joined with her family in supplying means for one or two extra nurses for the hospital, and for years she corresponded with the Mother Superior.

Miss Stokes had looked forward with deep interest to a journey through Palestine. Six weeks of this joiu-ney were spent in tent life. Referring to Jerusalem, she writes to a friend: "I am thankful to have had a very beautiful approach to the city: for I had a horse meet me some distance outside of the walls, and rode through the Damascus Gate directly to the Mount of Olives, where just at sunset the city is seen in its fullest beauty, and it seemed very appropriate to sing, aU by myself, before joining the others, 'Jerusalem the Golden,' though that, of course, refers to a far more perfect 'Holy City.'"

She was interested in the MacAll Mission in France from its commencement. During a winter in Tangiers she constantly visited a prison which was in a wretched condition and helped toward its amelioration. She was also much interested in the hospital there under English management. For years she helped toward the salary of a medical missionary in Egypt and joined in giving land and a building for an Italian boys' school on the hills outside of Florence. She gave funds to start a training school for mu-ses in connection with the American College in Beirut. She arranged with Dr. Percival, Head Master of Rugby, England, whom she met at Chautauqua in the summer of 1901, to have a medallion placed in Rugby Chapel in memory of Arthur Clough, whose poems she greatly enjoyed.

Not long after her return from the trip around the world, Miss Stokes was obliged by ill health to give up active work and spent most of the remaining years of her life in California. She bore ill health with wonderful bravery and cheerfulness, scarcely ever referring to it.

She wrote during this period a charming novel, a story containing many of the incidents of her journey around the world. The characters were drawn clearly and cleverly, the descriptions of scenery were accurate, and a delightful sense of humor runs through the story. She prepared an interesting book of Bible texts called "Heaven the Country, Christ the Way," leaving alternate blank pages on which to write accounts of travels, or selections which the reader might wish to preserve.

Miss Stokes read much, and although leading a very busy life, the love of reading was so keen that she found time to read most that was good in modern literature, and a great deal in the standard books of the past.

She was in the habit of destroying most of her letters, but in years of ill health they accumulated, and from these and the knowledge of her friends it would seem that no day passed without some kindness done, some helpful word said or written. She taught a class of children on Sundays who came to her house up to the time of her death. The following lines found among her papers indicate her attitude of mind toward following duty under difficulties :

"But tasks, in hours of insight willed, Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled."

Among Miss Stokes' more important public gifts not already mentioned are the following:

To New York she gave public baths, and, with a member of her family, built St. Paul's Chapel for Columbia University.

Seeing the need of a rest room and restaurant in the lower part of the city for business women, she joined with another member of her family in opening one. Later, when Dr. Geer, the earnest and devoted rector of St. Paul's, wished to open a day and night rest room and restaurant for girls who were employed downtown, she at once wrote him offering to join in giving the assistance he needed to start this work.

She also gave toward a new building for the Peabody Home for Aged and Infirm Women.

In her will. Miss Stokes left many gifts to individuals and charities, and established the Phelps-Stokes Fund to carry on the interests she had furthered during her life.

To the city of Ansonia, Conn., she gave a Public Library in memory of her grandfather, Anson G. Phelps, founder of the town, and her father and mother; and also a fountain in connection with the Library in memory of Anne Sewall.

She joined with another in building Woodbridge Hall, the administration building of Yale University, and in giving Memorial Gates to the Old South Church Cemetery in Hartford, Conn., in memory of her ancestor. Governor John Haynes.

She also gave to New York a wagon called "The Fire Fly," which is still doing good work in going to places where drivers and other men congregate and furnishing them with hot coffee and sandwiches at hours of the day and night when most needed.

In appearance Miss Stokes was handsome and distinguished, with great charm of personality. She was attractive at all times, whether in her simple, everyday dress, or in white satin and old lace, as on the occasion of her presentation to Queen Margherita of Italy. In a long camping journey through Palestine she rode an easy-gaited, well-made bay, and in her well-fitting riding habit, her panama hat wound around with soft white muslin, almost always with some wild flowers in the folds, generally leading the party, erect, her English riding crop in her hand, and holding her horse well in, she made a charming picture.

Her smile v/as especially beautiful. Someone who knew her and was qualified to judge said, "It was the smile of angels." A niece wrote: "One can never think of her without very especially feeling the rare charm and inspiration of her very living, beautiful spirit which always made her smile to me the most beautiful and fascinating I have ever seen. Ever since a little child I could never think of Aunt Carrie without seeming to see her smile in that radiant way that seemed to go straight to one's very heart and made you feel that she at once understood you in a very especial way."

The last winter of her life was spent in her home at Redlands, California. Ill health did not prevent her enjoying driving tours and spending days out of doors among the beautiful scenery of the mountains. She died in Redlands, April 26, 1909. The last day of her life here was spent from early morning until sunset in kind, thoughtful deeds for others, and as the sun set behind the mountains her spirit passed peacefully to the Father's Other Home, and there came to her that "Peace with Joy" which she had herself asked for in a poem she had written :

God grant when life is ended,

And day's long work is done.

True Peace with Joy eternal.

Shall come with setting sun.

Olivia E. Phelps Stokes.

HISTORY OF THE PHELPS-STOKES FUND

The seventeenth clause of the will of Caroline Phelps Stokes read in part as follows:

After all bequests and devises heretofore made in this will shall have been first paid by my executors, I direct that aU my residuary estate of whatever kind and description and wheresoever situated and however evidenced shall be given by my executors to the following persons or such of them as may be hving at the time of my death whom with their successors I appoint trustees to hold the same in trust forever to constitute a fund to be known as the Phelps-Stokes Fund, namely: The Protestant Episcopal Bishop of New York City, for the time being, the Chancellor of the University of the City of New York for the time being, the Reverend Dr. Lyman Abbott of Brooklyn, Ohvia Egleston Phelps Stokes, I. Newton Phelps Stokes, Helen Olivia Phelps Stokes, F. Louis Slade, Mabel Slade, Caroline M. Phelps Stokes, Grace H. Dodge and Arthiu Curtiss James, to be invested and kept invested by them and their successors, the interest and net income of such fund to be used by them and their successors for the erection or improvement of tenement house dwellings in New York City for the poor families of New York City and for educational purposes in the education of negroes both in Africa and the United States, North American Indians and needy and deserving white students.

First Meeting of Trustees

In accordance with the terms of this will the persons named as Trustees of the Phelps-Stokes Fund met at the residence of Anson Phelps Stokes, 230 Madison Avenue, New York, April 28, 1910. This meeting was called by Mr. Anson Phelps Stokes and Miss Olivia E. P. Stokes. On motion Bishop Greer was elected temporary chairman, and Francis Louis Slade temporary secretary. Mr. Anson Phelps Stokes read a statement in regard to the will of his sister, Caroline Phelps Stokes, and Mr. I. N. Phelps Stokes read some brief extracts from some of her writings showing her motives in the creation of the Trust, and also a brief sketch of her life.

Three resignations of the Trustees named in the will were then presented, as follows: Rev. Lyman Abbott, Arthur Curtiss James, and Mabel Slade Arbuthnot. To fill these vacancies the following persons were elected as members of the Board of Trustees: Anson Phelps Stokes, Jr., Edward W. Sheldon, and John Sherman Hoyt.

At this first meeting it was

Resolved, that the Trustees appoint a Committee on Plan and Scope to report on details of organization, etc., with recommendations to the next meeting of the Trustees, and in the interim to receive and take necessary action upon correspondence, and to employ therefor clerical help if necessary.

Miss O. E. Phelps Stokes was elected chairman of this committee, and the following additional members were named: I. N. Phelps Stokes, vice-chairman; F. L. Slade, treasurer; Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, Jr., secretary; and Helen O. Phelps Stokes.

At a subsequent meeting the Committee on Plan and Scope recommended the appointment of an Executive Committee, a Committee on Education, and a Committee on Housing, each of the latter committees to consist of two members of the Executive Committee and one member of the Board of Trustees not a member of the Executive Committee. It was suggested by Miss Olivia Stokes that it might be appropriate for the board always to include a woman. These recommendations were approved by the Trustees.

Act of Incorporation

The Trustees of the Phelps-Stokes Fund were incorporated by the Legislature of the State of New York on May 10, 1911. The act of incorporation follows the general provisions of Miss Stokes' will and indicates the breadth of her educational and philanthropic interests. It reads as follows :

An act to incorporate the Trustees of the Phelps-Stokes Fund. The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows :

Section I. David H. Greer, John MacCracken, OUvia Egleston Phelps Stokes, Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, Helen Olivia Phelps Stokes, Francis Louis Slade, Caroline M. Phelps Stokes Hunter, Grace H. Dodge, Anson Phelps Stokes, Junior, John Sherman Hoyt and Edward W. Sheldon, together with such persons as they may associate with themselves and their successors, are hereby constituted a body corporate by the name of The Trustees of the Phelps-Stokes Fund for the purpose of receiving the trust estate, property and funds now in the hands of the above named persons as trustees or hereafter received by them under the seventeenth clause of the will of Caroline Phelps Stokes, deceased, dated June twenty-nine, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and admitted to probate by the surrogates' court of New York County, on November nine, nineteen hundred and nine, which trust estate, property and funds such testamentary trustees are hereby authorized to convey, transfer and set over to such corporation, and for the purpose of receiving any other fimds which may hereafter be given to such corporation and maintaining such fund or funds and investing the same and applying the income thereof to the erection and improvement of tenement house dwellings in the city of New York for the poor families of that city, either directly or by the acquisition of the capital stock or obligations of any other corporation organized for that purpose; and for the education of negroes, both in Africa and the United States, North American Indians and needy and deserving white students, through industrial schools, the founding of scholarships, and the erection or endowment of school buildings or chapels. It shall be within the purpose of said corporation to use any means to such ends which shall from time to time seem expedient to its members or trustees including research, publication, the establishment and maintenance of charitable or benevolent activities, agencies and institutions, and the- aid of any such activities, agencies or institutions already established.