Elizabeth Duane Gillespie
Personal Information
Born: 1821
Died: 1901
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Unknown
"None found"
— Elizabeth Duane Gillespie
Professional Life
Field of Study: Philanthropy
Institution/Corporation: None found
Degrees & Memberships: Member: Pennsylvania Branch of the sanitary Commission; Colonial dames of Pennsylvania
Awards & Achievements
Awards: None found
Achievements: was the head of the Women's Centennial Exposition Committee; after being told there was no space in the main hall for a Women's Exhibition she & her committee took four months to raise more than $31,000 to erect the one-acre Woman’s Pavilion, the first at any world’s fair; her autobiography is titled "A Book of Remembrance"; 1893 as head of the Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania tried to get the city of Philadelphia to call June 14 Flag Day & it was officially enacted as Flag Day in 1937 with President Truman making it a National holiday in 1949*1883 with 27 other women formed The Associate Committee of Women of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (1961 updated its name to The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art);
was the great granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin
1864 was named Postmistress of the Great Central Fair
The Elizabeth D. Gillespie Middle School (formerly Junior High School) in North Philadelphia, was named in her honor
was a nurse in Philadelphia during the Civil War
was briefly married & lived in florida with her husband & daughter but subsequently left her husband & returned to Philadelphia where she raised her daughter as a single parent
she & her committee raised $30,000 for a Women's Pavilion after the men in charge of the Centennial withdrew their promise of floor space for women's accomplishments in the main hall