Goal: Students will see George Peabody as a local business owner who was engaged in the community and had a stake in the well-being of the community.
Objectives:
1) Students will analyze an article from the July 14, 1916 Post-Crescent entitled “Peabody Will has $157,500 for Appleton.”
2) Students will answer two observation-style questions about the newspaper article.
3) Students will make a judgment about which of the projects named would be the most important and will offer reasons for their choices.
4) Students will see the long-lasting impact of Peabody’s gift by reading the definition of the term “endowment” and speculating the importance of investing some of the Peabody gift for later use.
5) Students will anticipate how Peabody’s will might have differed had he operated the business from out of town.
6) Students will see and experience the legacy of Peabody’s local philanthropy by visiting some of the organizations and locations that Peabody funded.
In 1872, C.J. Pettibone, owner of a department store in Fond du Lac, decided to expand his business into the Appleton area. He sent one of his best clerks, George Frederick Peabody to help establish and later manage the store. Pettibone’s was Appleton’s first department store, and although it was owned by a Fond du Lac native, George Peabody lived in Appleton and was well known and liked by the community. Under Mr. Peabody’s able management, Pettibone’s became the largest retail mercantile establishment in Wisconsin outside of Milwaukee. Eventually, Mr. Peabody purchased a controlling interest in the company (he bought much of the company’s stock) and he took over ownership of the Appleton store. Through his will, Mr. Peabody donated money to the city of Appleton. Read the article titled “Peabody Will Has $157,500 for Appleton” from the July 14, 1916 Post-Crescent.
1. How much money, in total, did Peabody’s will provide for the city of Appleton?
2) Name at least three provisions of the will that would benefit the citizens of Appleton.
3) What projects do you think would be the most important? Why?
4) An endowment is a sum of money that is invested. Some of the money earned from interest on the investments is then later used to support organizations or projects. Why would it be important that George Peabody’s will directed that some of the estate money be used to establish endowments rather than be used right away for the named projects?
5) How might Peabody’s will have been different if he had not lived in Appleton?
6) Now, the Fox Valley is served by nationally-owned department stores like Marshall Field’s, Younkers, JC Penney’s, and Sears. The owners of these stores do not live in Appleton. Do you think that might affect the service customers receive or the support these stores give to community organizations?
7) With your class, make a visit to Peabody Park, The Heritage Retirement Home (Formerly Peabody Manor), the Lawrence Conservatory (formerly Peabody Conservatory), and/or the YMCA. Spend some time in at least one of these organizations and then write a journal entry about how you think George Peabody’s contributions to these organizations made the Fox Valley a better place to live. Then, write a thank you letter to the Peabody Estate expressing your appreciation for Mr. Peabody’s generosity and telling how it has helped Appleton.
