Elizabeth Lowell Putnam (2 February 1862–1935) was an American philanthropist and an activist for

prenatal care Prenatal care, also known as antenatal care, is a type of preventive healthcare for pregnant individuals. It is provided in the form of medical checkups and healthy lifestyle recommendations for the pregnant person. Antenatal care also consists of ...

. She was born (as Bessie Lowell) in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, the daughter of

Augustus Lowell Augustus Lowell (January 15, 1830 – June 22, 1900) was a wealthy Massachusetts industrialist, philanthropist, horticulturist, and civic leader. A member of the Brahmin Lowell family, he was born in Boston to John Amory Lowell and his seco ...

and Katherine Bigelow Lowell.

Family

A member of the

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

Lowell family The Lowell family is one of the Boston Brahmin families of New England, known for both intellectual and commercial achievements. The family had emigrated to Boston from England in 1639, led by the patriarch Percival Lowle (c. 1570–1664/1665). ...

, her siblings included the astronomer

Percival Lowell Percival Lowell (; March 13, 1855 – November 12, 1916) was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, and furthered theories of a ninth planet within the Solar System ...

, the educator and legal scholar

Abbott Lawrence Lowell Abbott Lawrence Lowell (December 13, 1856 – January 6, 1943) was an American educator and legal scholar. He was president of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933. With an "aristocratic sense of mission and self-certainty," Lowell cut a large ...

, and the poet

Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on February 9, 1874, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughte ...

. They were the great-grandchildren of

John Lowell John Lowell (June 17, 1743 – May 6, 1802) was a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, a judge of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture under the Articles of Confederation, a United States district judge of the United States Distric ...

and, on their mother's side, the grandchildren of

Abbott Lawrence Abbott Lawrence (December 16, 1792, Groton, Massachusetts – August 18, 1855) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was among the group of industrialists that founded a settlement on the Merrimack River that would lat ...

. Lowell, Delmar R., ''The Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America from 1639 to 1899'' (Rutland VT: The Tuttle Company, 1899), 283

Early life and marriage

Elizabeth grew up on her family's estate, which was later called Sevenels for the seven Lowells that comprised her family. In 1888, Elizabeth married her third cousin and family lawyer William Putnam, Senior.

William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

In 1924, after her husband's death, Elizabeth Lowell Putnam established the William Lowell Putnam Intercollegiate Memorial Fund in order to begin a college-level mathematics competition. This contest, which continues to this day, began in 1935 under the direction of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

. Since 1992, the competition has awarded the Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize for outstanding performance by a female contestant.

Descendants

She was the maternal grandmother of

McGeorge Bundy McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919 – September 16, 1996) was an American academic who served as the U.S. National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 through 1966. He was president of the Ford Fou ...

and

William Putnam Bundy William Putnam Bundy (September 24, 1917 – October 6, 2000) was an American attorney and analyst with the CIA. Bundy served as a foreign affairs advisor to both presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He had key roles in planning t ...

References

External links

Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Papers.
http://radcliffe.edu/schles Schlesinger Library] , Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Putnam, Elizabeth Lowell 1862 births 1935 deaths American philanthropists Philanthropists from Boston