Mary Phillips Riis
American philanthropist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mary A. Phillips Riis (April 29, 1877 – August 4, 1967) was an American philanthropist, widow of Danish-American reformer and journalist Jacob Riis.
Mary Phillips Riis | |
|---|---|
 Mary Phillips Riis, from a 1920 magazine profile. | |
| Born | Mary A. Phillips April 29, 1877 Memphis, Tennessee, US |
| Died | August 4, 1967 New York City, US |
| Occupation(s) | Philanthropist, financier |
| Spouse | Jacob Riis (married 1907) |
Early life
Mary A. Phillips was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Richard Fabian Phillips and Elise Caroline (Lina) Rensch Phillips.[1] Her father was born in England,[2] a cotton broker, and eventually president of the Cotton Exchange in St. Louis. She attended schools in England and France.[3] Later in life, she took courses at New York University.[4]
Career
Mary Phillips moved to New York for a career on the stage. She became secretary, and later wife, to journalist Jacob A. Riis. In widowhood, she took a job on Wall Street, selling bonds.[5] During World War I she helped promote Liberty Loans.[6] In 1919, she became head of an investment securities office, the first in New York City to be staffed entirely by women.[6] She built a fortune enough to own a mansion near Bedford Village, New York.[3] In 1958 she was dubbed "The First Lady of Wall Street" in a newspaper headline.[7]
Riis taught investment courses at Columbia University, meant for women students who, like herself, were faced with managing their own personal finances. She also wrote about finance for women's magazines,[4] and counseled women in business.[8]
She was longtime president of Riis House, a settlement house in New York.[3][9] She supported Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs during the Great Depression, and encouraged Roosevelt to do more for Jewish refugees from Germany.[4] Late in life, she worked especially for children's programs, including playgrounds.[10]
Personal life
Mary Phillips married widower Jacob Riis in 1907, as his second wife.[11][12] They lived on a farm in New England, which she inherited, while the rest of the Riis estate was divided among his children.[8][5] She was widowed after seven years, in 1914.[13] She died in a nursing home in New York City in 1967, aged 90 years.[3] Some of her papers are in the Jacob A. Riis Papers at the New York Public Library.[14] She donated another collection of Riis papers and photographs to the Library of Congress.[15]
References
External links
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