Caroline Henderson Griffiths
An older white woman wearing a dark brimmed hat with a veil in back
Caroline Henderson Griffiths, from a 1921 publication
Born
Carrie Henderson

November 26, 1861
Covington, Indiana, US
DiedAugust 13, 1937
New York, New York, US
OccupationPhilanthropist
SpouseJohn L. Griffiths

Caroline Henderson Griffiths (November 26, 1861 – August 13, 1937) was an American diplomat's wife and philanthropist. After World War I, she organized book and equipment donations for children's libraries in Belgium and France.

Early life

Caroline Henderson was born in Covington, Indiana, and raised in Lafayette, the daughter of Albert Henderson and Lorana Richmond Henderson. She earned a bachelor's degree in 1880, as one of the first women to graduate from Purdue University.[1] Her older brother Charles Richmond Henderson was a sociology professor at the University of Chicago; her older sister Julia Henderson Levering wrote a book on Indiana history.[2][3]

Career

Henderson wrote a handbook on wood carving, published in 1887.[2][4] Griffiths was an officer of the Indiana Soldiers' Aid Society in 1898.[5] In Indianapolis, she supported the Flower Mission Home for Incurables,[6] a hospital she helped establish in 1903.[7] In 1918 she edited The Greater Patriotism, a collection of her late husband's speeches.[8]

After World War I, Griffiths headed the American Book Committee on Children's Libraries,[9] organized to deliver children's books and library furniture to Belgian and French communities recovering from the war.[10] Griffiths is credited with bringing the first children's libraries and reading rooms in Paris and Brussels.[11] The L'Heure Joyeuse programs also provided training for children's librarians; the Paris site counted writer Claire Huchet Bishop among its first librarians.[12] "In establishing children's libraries and reading rooms in Belgium and France," she explained, "we are only paying a little on a very large debt which America owes to Europe for the delightful hours the children in every generation have received from the great storytellers in Europe."[9]

Personal life

Henderson married lawyer and diplomat John Lewis Griffiths in 1889.[13][14] She was widowed when Griffiths died in London in 1914.[15] Their home in Indianapolis is now known as the Kemper House, and houses the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.[16] She died in New York in 1937, aged 75 years.[7] Her grave is in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

References

  1. ↑ "Alumni: From Feminine Standpoint". Purdue Exponent. February 4, 1904. p. 21. Retrieved May 2, 2021 – via Purdue University Archives and Special Collections.
  2. 1 2 DeHart, Richard Patten (1909). Past and Present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana. B.F. Bowen. p. 406.
  3. ↑ "New History of Indiana". The Star Press. 1909-02-21. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-05-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Indiana authors and their books 1967-1980". IU Digital Library Program. Archived from the original on 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  5. ↑ Indiana Adjutant General's Office (1900). Record of Indiana Volunteers in the Spanish-American War 1898-1899. W.B. Burford. p. 21.
  6. ↑ "Will Dedicate New Hospital". The Indianapolis Star. 1903-11-25. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-05-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 "Former Local Woman Dies in New York City". Indianapolis Times. August 14, 1937. p. 16. Retrieved May 2, 2021 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  8. ↑ Griffiths, John Lewis; Griffiths, Caroline Henderson (1918). The greater patriotism; public addresses by John Lewis Griffiths, American consul general at London, delivered in England and America. London; New York: J. Lane; John Lane Company. OCLC 2036799.
  9. 1 2 "Happy Hours for Children". La France. 5: 212. February 1921.
  10. ↑ "BOOKS FOR BELGIAN YOUTHS; Mrs. John L. Griffiths Returns After Establishing Library in Brussels". The New York Times. 1920-10-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  11. ↑ Moore, Annie Carroll (October 15, 1920). "Children's Libraries in France". Library Journal. 45: 832.
  12. ↑ Benoit, Gaetan (1985). "Eugène Morel and Children's Libraries in France". The Journal of Library History. 20 (3): 277–280. ISSN 0275-3650. JSTOR 25541627.
  13. ↑ "Untitled social item". The Indianapolis Journal. 1889-05-23. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-05-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "John L. Griffiths, Gentleman, Lawyer, and Loyal Citizen". The South Bend Tribune. 1905-01-28. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-05-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "John L. Griffiths Dies in London; Apparently in Good Health, Consul General Succumbs to a Heart Seizure". The New York Times. 1914-05-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  16. ↑ Pierson-Griffiths House / Kemper House, 1986; at Indiana Memory.
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