Background
Culver, Helen was born on March 23, 1832 in Little Valley, New York, United States. Daughter of Lyman and Emeliza (Hull) Culver.
Culver, Helen was born on March 23, 1832 in Little Valley, New York, United States. Daughter of Lyman and Emeliza (Hull) Culver.
Culver graduated from Randolph Academy, New York in 1852.
She owned Hull House and rented it to Jane Addams, before later giving the property to Addams along with hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations, contributing substantially to founding the comprehensive settlement-house movement in the United States. She was a trustee of Hull House until 1898. In 1853 she started a private school in Sycamore, Illinois, and from 1854-1861 she served as teacher and principal in various Chicago schools.
When Hull died in 1889, Culver inherited the real estate business.1
Besides backing Jane Addams, Culver supported several other important scholarly causes, such as giving over $1.1 million to the University of Chicago, making her one of the University"s most important early donors.2.
In 1906 she gave $50,000 to William I. Thomas to fund a study of The Polish Peasant in Europe and America3. Culver died in 1925.