Mary A. Phillips Riis (April 29, 1877 – August 4, 1967) was an American philanthropist, widow of Danish-American reformer and journalist

Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, " muck-raking" journalist, and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in the United States of Ame ...

Early life

Mary A. Phillips was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, the daughter of Richard Fabian Phillips and Elise Caroline (Lina) Rensch Phillips. Her father was born in England, a cotton broker, and eventually president of the Cotton Exchange in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. She attended schools in England and France. Later in life, she took courses at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

Mary Phillips moved to New York for a career on the stage. She became secretary, and later wife, to journalist Jacob A. Riis. In widowhood, she took a job on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

, selling bonds. During

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 ...

she helped promote Liberty Loans. In 1919, she became head of an investment securities office, the first in New York City to be staffed entirely by women. She built a fortune enough to own a mansion near Bedford Village, New York. In 1958 she was dubbed "The First Lady of Wall Street" in a newspaper headline. Riis taught investment courses at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, meant for women students who, like herself, were faced with managing their own personal finances. She also wrote about finance for women's magazines, and counseled women in business. She was longtime president of Riis House, a

settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity an ...

in New York. She supported

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

programs during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and encouraged Roosevelt to do more for Jewish refugees from Germany. Late in life, she worked especially for children's programs, including playgrounds.

Personal life

Mary Phillips married widower Jacob Riis in 1907, as his second wife. They lived on a farm in New England, which she inherited, while the rest of the Riis estate was divided among his children. She was widowed after seven years, in 1914. She died in a nursing home in New York City in 1967, aged 90 years. Some of her papers are in the Jacob A. Riis Papers at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. She donated another collection of Riis papers and photographs to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

References

External links

*Francesca Pitaro (1985)
Guide to the Jacob A. Riis Papers
New York Public Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Riis, Mary Phillips 1877 births 1967 deaths American philanthropists People from Memphis, Tennessee American finance and investment writers