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Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage 1828 ~ 1918
Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage
Mrs. Sage, before her marriage to
Russell Sage, on November 24, 1869, at Watervliet, New York, was
Miss Margaret Olivia Slocum. She was born in Syracuse, N. Y.,
September 8, 1828, and was the daughter of Joseph and Margaret
Pierson Jermain Slocum. Mrs. Sage has always devoted her life
and means to charity. She has never had any inclination or taken
any part in the social life of New York, preferring to do her
part toward the cause of humanity. She was president of the Emma
Willard Association; is a member of the Society of Mayflower
descendants and Colonial Dames.
Since the death of her husband, in 1906,
she has given one million dollars to the Emma Willard Seminary,
of Troy, New York; one million to Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute; $115,000 to a public school at Sag Harbor, Long
Island; ten millions to be known as the Sage Foundation for
Social Betterment; $350,000 to the Y. M. C. A. of New York;
$150,000 to American Seamen's Friend Society; $150,000 to
Northfield (Massachusetts) Seminary; $300,000 to Sage Institute
of Pathology of City Hospital on Blackwells Island; $250,000 to
a home for Indigent Women; $100,000 to Syracuse University.
These represent only her public gifts, while her private and
individual charities and gifts to relatives and friends are
manifold.
The purposes of the Sage Foundation Fund
are broad and generous and will be of lasting benefit to the men
and women of to-day and to those of the future in the work of
uplifting the unfortunate and aiding helpful men and women to do
their part in the work of the human race in the building of our
nation. The Russell Sage Foundation was incorporated under the
laws of the state of New York in the month of April, 1907. The
endowment consists of the sum of $10,000 donated by Mrs. Russell
Sage. The purpose of the Foundation, as stated in its charter,
is "the improvement of social and living conditions in the
United States of America." The charter further provides that
''It shall be within the purpose of said corporation to use any
means which, from time to time, shall seem expedient to its
members or trustees, including research, publication, education,
the establishment and maintenance of charitable and benevolent
activities, agencies and institutions, and the aid of any such
activities, agencies or institutions already established."
In a letter addressed to the trustees in
April, 1907, Mrs. Sage further defines the scope of the
Foundation and its limitations as follows: "The scope of the
Foundation is not only national, but it is broad. It should,
however, preferably, not undertake to do that which is now being
done or is likely to be effectively done by other individuals or
other agencies. It should be its aim to take up the larger, more
difficult problems, and to take them up so far as possible in
such a manner as to secure co-operation and aid in their
solution."
Among the other activities to which the
Russell Sage Foundation has contributed financial aid are the
National Red Cross, the President's Homes Commission and the
Child-Saving Congress in Washington. Some idea of the scope of
the Foundation's activities may be gained from the following
titles of a few of its publications:
The Standard of Living among
Workingmen's Families in New York City.
Medical Inspection of Schools.
Laggards in Our Schools.
Correction and Prevention. Four volumes.
Juvenile Court Laws in the United States: Summarized.
The Pittsburgh Survey. Six volumes.
Housing Reform.
A Model Tenement House Law.
Among School Gardens.
Workingmen's Insurance in Europe.
The Campaign against Tuberculosis in the United States.
Report on the Desirability of Establishing an Employment Bureau
in the city of New York.
Wider Use of the School Plant.
The above statement of some of the
activities of the Foundation is not inclusive or complete, nor
is it intended to be. It is only illustrative. The Foundation
has never published a complete report of all of its activities.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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