Grace Hoadley Dodge (May 21, 1856 – December 27, 1914) was an American philanthropist who was the first woman appointed a member of the New York Board of Education.
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Early life
Grace was born in Manhattan on May 21, 1856, the eldest of six children born to Sarah Tappan (née Hoadley) Dodge (1832–1909) and William Earl Dodge Jr. (1832–1903), a merchant devoted to religious and philanthropic works. He was known as the "Christian Merchant". Her younger siblings included William Earl Dodge III; Cleveland Hoadley Dodge; Mary Melissa Hoadley Dodge; Alice Clinton Hoadley Dodge (who married William Church Osborn); and Morris Jesup Dodge, who died young.
She was the granddaughter of U.S. Representative from New York William E. Dodge and the great-granddaughter of David Low Dodge. Her grandfather William and her great-grandfather (William's his father-in-law), Anson Greene Phelps, formed the import firm of Phelps Dodge, which was one of the largest copper mining corporations in the United States, and created the family's vast wealth. Her maternal grandfather was David Hoadley, the president of the Panama Railroad, and her great-grandfather was prominent architect David Hoadley.
Grace was mostly educated at home by private tutors, but also spent two years at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut between 1872 and 1874. As a young woman, she taught Sunday school at the Madison Square Chapel and, later, at industrial schools for the Children's Aid Society.