Laura Spelman Rockefeller

Laura Spelman Rockefeller
File:Laura Spelman Rockefeller - Bain Collection.png
Born	Laura Celestia Spelman (1839-09-09)September 9, 1839 Wadsworth, Ohio, U.S.
Died	Pocantico Hills, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Heart attack
Spouse(s)	John Davison Rockefeller (m. 1864—1915; her death)
Children	Elizabeth Rockefeller Alice Rockefeller Alta Rockefeller Edith Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Jr.
Parent(s)	Harvey Buell Spelman Lucy Henry
Relatives	See Rockefeller family

Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman Rockefeller (September 9, 1839 – March 12, 1915) was an American abolitionist, philanthropist, schoolteacher, and prominent member of the Rockefeller family. Her husband was Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. She is the namesake of Spelman College, founded to educate black women in the South, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial.

Life and work

Cettie Spelman was born in Wadsworth, Ohio to Puritan descendant Harvey Buell Spelman (September 15, 1811 — October 11, 1881) and Lucy Henry (February 28, 1818 — September 7, 1897), Yankees who had moved to Ohio from Massachusetts. Harvey was an abolitionist who was active in the Congregationalist Church, the Underground Railroad, and in politics. The Spelmans eventually moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Cettie had an elder adopted sister, Lucy Maria "Lute" Spelman (c. 1837 — February 6, 1920). In Cleveland, Lute and Cettie met John Davison Rockefeller while attending accounting classes together. He was the eldest son of con artist William Avery "Bill" Rockefeller (1810—1906) and Eliza Davison (1813—1889). They had five children:

• Elizabeth "Bessie" Rockefeller (August 23, 1866 — November 14, 1906)
• Alice Rockefeller (July 14, 1869 — August 20, 1870)
• Alta Rockefeller (April 12, 1871 — June 21, 1962)
• Edith Rockefeller (August 31, 1872 — August 25, 1932)
• John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 — May 11, 1960)

She later returned to New England to attend Oread Institute, with plans to become a schoolteacher. After returning to Ohio to teach, she married John in 1864. Following her wedding, Cettie remained active in the church (she joined Rockefeller's congregation, the Northern Baptists) and with her family. Once the family business, Standard Oil, began to take off, she further devoted her time to philanthropy and her children.

Throughout their lives, the Rockefeller family continued to donate ten percent of their income to charity, including substantial donations to Spelman College. Cettie died on March 12, 1915 at age 75 of a heart attack, at the family estate Kykuit in Pocantico Hills, New York.

See also

• Rockefeller family
• Rockefeller Foundation
• Rockefeller University
• Rockefeller Center
• Kykuit
• John D. Rockefeller III
• Nelson Rockefeller
• Laurance Rockefeller
• Winthrop Rockefeller
• David Rockefeller
• Jay Rockefeller
• Philanthropy

Further reading

• Rockefeller Archive Center
• Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller Sr. Warner Books. (1998). ISBN 0-679-43808-4. online review
• Harvey Buell Spelman
• Lucy Henry
• Stasz, Clarice. The Rockefeller Women: Dynasty of Piety, Privacy, and Service. New York: St. Martins Press. (1995).
• Segall, Grant. John D. Rockefeller: Anointed with Oil. Oxford University Press, (2001).
• Obituary 1 - "Lucy Maria Spelman", New York Times, February 6, 1920