Helen Culver

Helen Culver inherited the estate of her cousin Charles J. Hull, a real estate investor. In 1895 she wrote an unsolicited letter to President Harper, offering a very substantial gift to support the biological sciences. This gift eventually resulted in the construction of Hull Court, the original biology campus of the University. Her formal proposal letter, also indicating her interest in supporting a Marine Biological Laboratory, is included in this exhibit.

Photograph of Helen Culver

Image from Goodspeed, Thomas Wakefield, The University of Chicago Biographical Sketches, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, n.d. Regenstein: LD918.G651