Eliza Greene Radeke (née Metcalf; 1854–1931) was the president of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, Rhode Island from 1913 to 1931 and was the daughter of RISD co-founder Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf.

Eliza G. Radeke
7th President of the Rhode Island School of Design
In office
1913–1931
Preceded byIsaac Comstock Bates
Succeeded byHelen Metcalf Danforth
Personal details
Born
Eliza Greene Metcalf

(1854-12-11)December 11, 1854
Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Died1931
Resting placeSwan Point Cemetery
SpouseGustav Radeke (1880–1892; death)
RelationsJesse H. Metcalf (brother)
ParentHelen Adelia Rowe Metcalf (mother)
Alma materVassar College,
Brown University

Biography

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Eliza Greene Metcalf was born in Augusta, Georgia on December 11, 1854[1] while her father, Jesse Metcalf was working as a cotton buyer. Her mother, Helen, was the co-founder of RISD in 1877. Her brother, Jesse H. Metcalf, was a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island.[2] Eliza Metcalf attended Dr. Stockbridge's School in Providence and then received her A.B. from Vassar College in 1876. She later received an honorary A.M. from Brown University in 1914.[citation needed]

Eliza Metcalf married Dr. Gustav Radeke, M.D., of Providence on May 27, 1880.[3] In 1913 several years after her mother's death, Eliza Radeke became President of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and served on the Women's Advisory Committee of the Women's College at Brown University.[1] She served as a director of the American Federation of Arts. She was a member of the Unitarian Church and pursued various outdoor activities.[citation needed]

Radeke was noted for her collection of Pennsylvania German pottery, begun in 1911; she was one of the first major collectors to focus on the field of American folk art.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Leonard, John W. (1914). Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. New York, New York: The American Commonwealth Company. p. 669.
  2. ^ Albert Nelson Marquis, Who's who in New England, Volume 2 (Google eBook) (A.N. Marquis, 1915), pg. 885
  3. ^ "History of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical". Ancestry.com. Rhode Island USGenWeb Project. 2001-01-01. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  4. ^ National Museum of American Art (U.S.); Lynda Roscoe Hartigan (January 1, 1990). Made with Passion. National Museum of American Art. ISBN 978-0-87474-289-3.