Helen Culver

Helen Culver (March 3, 1832 – August 19, 1925) was an American teacher, real estate developer and philanthropist. Her philanthropy established Hull House, a settlement house in Chicago, as well as supporting many scholarly causes.

Early life and education Helen Culver was born in Little Valley, New York, on March 3, 1832. She was the youngest of the four children of Lyman and Emeliza (Hull) Culver. Lyman Culver was a farmer, who bought, cleared, and sold land. In 1838, Emeliza Culver died, and Helen Culver and her siblings were cared for by Lyman Culver's sisters until he remarried.

Culver attended local schools and began teaching at a country school at age 14. She also enrolled in the Randolph Academy and Female Seminary in Randolph, New York, graduating in 1852. Her studies were interrupted when Lyman Culver suddenly died from typhoid fever in 1852. His estate was bequeathed to his widow and two children from his second marriage. As a result, Helen Culver had to earn her own living at age 20.

In this period, Culver developed her relationship with her cousin, Charles Jerold Hull, a real estate businessman. After Hull's wife, Melicent, died in 1860, Culver left public education to care for and teach Hull's son, Charles, and daughter, Fredrika.

The inaugural recipient was Norwegian scientist and explorer Roald Amundsen, who spoke at the society about his recent expedition to the Northwest Passage.

In 1915, Australian scientist and Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson was awarded the medal.

In 1925 the medal was awarded to Lowell H. Smith, for having achieved the first Circumnavigation of the Earth by airplane on October 16, 1925. Her benefaction established the Hull Biological Laboratories at the university.

Culver's donations to the University of Chicago helped fund the Hull Biological Laboratories, which were completed in 1897.

Personal life Culver's affection for Hull was obvious in her letters to him, saying that she thought about him all the time they were apart. However Hull developed nephritis in 1884, causing him to return to Chicago, where they were joined by Martha Ellen French, a former teacher and Oberlin College classmate of Fredrika. French became a live-in companion and assistant to Culver, and lived with her for over 30 years. of malnutrition.