Louisa Lee Schuyler

Who was Louisa Lee Schuyler?

Louisa Lee Schuyler was an American leader in charitable work, the great-granddaughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton. During the Civil War she was appointed as the corresponding secretary in the Woman's Central Association of Relief in New York City. The mission of WCAR was to coordinate the efforts of the volunteers on the home front. In 1873 she organized the New York State Charities Aid Association and in the following year established the first training school for nurses in the United States in connection with Bellevue Hospital. In 1907 she was appointed one of the original trustees of the Russell Sage Foundation, founded by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage. In recognition of her 40 years of activity in charitable work she received in 1915 the first honorary degree of LL.D. ever conferred upon a woman by Columbia University.