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Ethel Sperry Crocker
Ethel Sperry Crocker (1861–1934) was an American philanthropist and art patron. In her day, she was the leading patron of French Impressionism in California. Biography Ethel Willard Sperry was born in Stockton, California, in 1861. Her parents were Simon Willard Sperry and Caroline Elizabeth (''née'' Barker) Sperry, from Stockton, California, and sister to Elizabeth Helen Sperry (wife of Prince André Poniatowski). On October 6, 1886, she married William Henry Crocker, a member of the wealthy Crocker family and a prominent member of the Republican Party. Over the course of his business career, he became the president of Crocker National Bank. Ethel and other family members owned the Sperry Flour Company, which was heavily invested in the World War I humanitarian effort by sending its flour across the ocean to aid famine-stricken citizens of Belgium. Encouraged by Lou Henry Hoover, wife of the later President Herbert Hoover, Crocker became treasurer of the Woman's "Belgian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commission For Relief In Belgium
The Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB, or simply Belgian Relief) was an international, predominantly American, organization that arranged for the supply of food to German-occupied Belgium and northern France during the First World War. Its leading figure was chairman, and future President of the United States, Herbert Hoover. Origins When the Great War broke out, Hoover was a mining engineer and financier living in London. When hostilities erupted, he found himself surrounded by tens of thousands of American tourists trying to get home. Their paper securities and travelers' checks were not being recognized and very few of them had enough hard currency to buy passage home, even if any ships had been sailing; most voyages had been canceled. Hoover set up and organized an "American committee" to "get the busted Yankee home," making loans and cashing checks as needed. By October 1914 the American Committee had sent some 120,000 Americans home, and in the end lost just $300 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |