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Elizabeth Ann or Anne Plankinton (July 27, 18531923) was an American philanthropist in the early 20th century, the daughter of
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
businessman
John Plankinton John Plankinton (March 11, 1820 – March 29, 1891) was an American businessman. He is noted for expansive real estate developments in Milwaukee, including the luxurious Plankinton House Hotel designed as an upscale residence for the wealthy. ...
. She was also known as "Miss Lizzie" and the people of Milwaukee called Plankinton the "municipal patroness" because of her generosity. She made a large donation that built the first
YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...
in Milwaukee. She also purchased an elaborate large-scale
pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
for the newly constructed city
auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...
. She supported local artists and
artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...
s. One of her notable gifts was the 1885 statue of George Washington that was ultimately placed in Milwaukee's Monument Square. It is tall and sits on a base. This was the first piece of public art for the city and was sculpted by her fiancé. Plankinton had a three-bedroom mansion built for her in an upscale Milwaukee neighborhood as a wedding gift from her father. Her fiancé abandoned her for a dancer from Minneapolis. Distraught, Plankinton lost interest in the mansion. It stood empty for a decade and was eventually purchased by a widow.


Biography

Plankinton was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 27, 1853. She was a daughter of John Plankinton and Elizabeth Brasker (some records show Bracken or Brucken). Her older brother, William, was born in 1844 and her sister, Hannah, in 1851; Hannah died of a heart condition in 1870 when Plankinton was seventeen.


Elizabeth Plankinton House

The
Elizabeth Plankinton House The Elizabeth Plankinton House was a stone structure in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., intended to be the residence for Elizabeth Plankinton. Built between 1886 and 1888 by John Plankinton for his daughter as a wedding gift, it cost at least $100, ...
was a three-bedroom mansion in the upscale Milwaukee neighborhood of west Grand Ave that was built by businessman and millionaire
John Plankinton John Plankinton (March 11, 1820 – March 29, 1891) was an American businessman. He is noted for expansive real estate developments in Milwaukee, including the luxurious Plankinton House Hotel designed as an upscale residence for the wealthy. ...
and was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. It was constructed in 1886–87 at a cost of $100,000 (equivalent to $ million in ). and was located across the street from his own palatial residence. His daughter, Elizabeth, was engaged to marry American sculptor
Richard Henry Park Richard Henry Park (also Richard Hamilton Park; February 17, 1838—November 7, 1902) was an American sculptor who worked in marble and bronze. He was commissioned to do work by the wealthy of the nineteenth century. He did a marble bust of John ...
, and he built the house to give to her as a wedding gift. The marriage never took place, as on September 18, 1887, Park abandoned Elizabeth and married a dancer from Minneapolis instead. Distraught, Elizabeth completely lost interest in the mansion, rejecting her wedding gift and never living in the residence which bore her name; instead, she travelled the world. The mansion stood empty for nearly ten years before eventually being sold to a widow in 1896, who lived in it to 1904. It was resold by her family in 1910 to the
Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...
, who continued to occupy and use it until 1978. It was acquired by the Milwaukee redevelopment authority in 1967, then transferred to
Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...
in 1975. The house provoked strong feelings at that time, with local historian H. Russell Zimmermann arguing for its preservation on historic grounds, in which he was supported by an analysis by the
Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
(HABS). However, local opinions included that it was an "eyesore," an "ugly behemoth," and a "monument to Victorian bad taste," and it was entirely surrounded by university buildings by 1980. A representative of Marquette University declared that the "mansion is neither historical nor architecturally significant. It is the product of the whims of the owner and the architect, and does not represent a true example of any particular style of architecture." The university demolished it in October 1980 to make room for student facilities; this occurred approximately two months after the HABS survey report has been issued, and despite the House having been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1976. Its destruction was a significant factor in the 1981 formation of the City of Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission, an appointed city commission created with the aim of protecting Milwaukee's architectural heritage.


Philanthropy

Plankinton followed in her father's footsteps as a
humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...
and was affectionately called "Miss Lizzie" by the citizens of Milwaukee. She continued the tradition of philanthropy and historical records show that Miss Plankinton gave many gifts to the citizens of Milwaukee for their benefit. Out of respect, she was referred to as the "municipal patroness" because of her spirit of giving. One of her public gifts was a $100,000 donation (equivalent to $ million in ) in 1892 that ultimately built in 1899 the first
YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...
hotel of the city (pictured) for affordable housing for working women. She also purchased a $10,000 pipe organ (equivalent to $ million in ) for the then-new half million dollar 1909 Milwaukee Auditorium.


Milwaukee Washington monument

Plankinton's most notable gift was a George Washington bronze statue for the city of Milwaukee, first announced in January 1885. Sculpted by 47 year old Park and dedicated in November 1885, it was the first piece of public art in Milwaukee, and cost around $20,000 (equivalent to $,000 in ).
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
is portrayed in uniform as the 43-year-old commander-in-chief of the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
, and stands tall on a granite base. The complete statue assembly with its 12-foot pedestal sits on a
Wauwatosa limestone Wauwatosa ( ; colloquially Tosa) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 census. Wauwatosa is a suburb located immediately west of Milwaukee and is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. It ...
foundation that is square and deep consisting of 4 steps. Inscriptions on the sculpture include: on the lower left side, "RH PARK SC," acknowledging the sculptor (who was Plankinton's then-
fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''f ...
); on back of the base, "The Gift of / Elizabeth A. Plankinton / To the City of Milwaukee / 1885"; and, on the front of the base, simply "WASHINGTON". At the foot of statue are two bronze figures, a mother and a child, which were included following a specific request from Plankinton. At a time when immigrants were coming in large numbers to live in Milwaukee, their inclusion is intended to portray a mother showing her child the father of the United States as a message on the importance of history or education. In 2016–2018, the statue was extensively restored.


Later life

Some time before
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Plankinton built a large home in
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, Germany, where she spent several months of the year. She was trapped there when the war broke out, and the government impounded her property in the United States. She visited Milwaukee after the war, but was in Europe as her health deteriorated, and she died in
Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...
in Switzerland in 1923. She was buried in the
Forest Home Cemetery Forest Home Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery and arboretum located in the Lincoln Village, City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the final resting place of many of the city's famed bee ...
in Milwaukee, with her mother, father, step mother, brother, and sister, near the Plankinton family obelisk erected after her father's death. In her will, she left considerable bequests to the people of Milwaukee, including $50,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) each to the YWCA, the
Milwaukee Hospital The Milwaukee Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, was a leader in antiseptic surgery when its surgery rooms opened in 1912, and was also a leader in using x-rays in medicine, having in 1926 the most powerful x-ray machine in the U.S. ...
, and the
Milwaukee-Downer College Milwaukee-Downer College was a women's college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in operation from 1895 until its merger with Lawrence University in 1964. History Milwaukee-Downer College was established in 1895 with the merger of two institutions: Milwau ...
, to whom she had already endowed $65,000 shortly before her death. After her father's death, Plankinton commissioned artist Susan Frackelton and her daughter, Gladys Frackelton Seely, to prepare and illustrate a hand-illuminated volume, ''Voices of Friends'' (also known as the ''Plankinton memorial book''), with reminiscences of him from his personal friends, "who knew and loved him well." It was displayed at the Layton Art Gallery, to whom Plankinton bequeathed $25,000 in her will. The gallery has since closed, but the volume has become a part of the rare books collection of the Milwaukee Central Library. Plankinton's share of her father's estate was held in trust for her children, and as she never had a child, her share went to her nephew, William Woods Plankinton.


References


Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Plankinton, Elizabeth 1853 births 1923 deaths People from Milwaukee American philanthropists American women philanthropists