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Who Are They?
A Brief Guide to Those Portraits Gracing Packer's Walls
You pass them every day in the hallway, and probably give them nary a
thought. Although these portraits seem remote and old-fashioned, they
represent people who lived and worked during the formative years of
Packer and the City of Brooklyn. Click on any image to view the slideshow.
view slideshow
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Harriet Putnam Packer
This portrait, painted many years after her death, depicts the founder of Packer in middle age, long after she had been widowed and used part of the fortune bequeathed her to rebuild the burned Brooklyn Female Academy in memory of her late husband. A genuinely Renaissance woman, Mrs. Packer stayed entirely out of the affairs of the school she founded and instead made her home on Grace Court a center of intellectual and social activity until her death in January 1892. |
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William Satterlee Packer
William Satterlee Packer was born in Albany County, NY in 1801 and made his fortune early in the fur trading business. He came to Brooklyn in 1839, retired at the age of 40 and devoted his life and fortune to civic affairs, among which was the founding of the Brooklyn Female Academy in 1845. He was an early trustee of that organization. He met his future wife Harriet while she was a governess in the household of his business partner John Prentice. They were married in 1842. He died in 1850 at the age of 49, leaving his young widow with two young children and a considerable fortune. |
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Alonzo Crittenden
Packer's first president (and the president of its predecessor The Brooklyn Female Academy), Alonzo Crittenden was born in 1801 and graduated from Union College in Schenectady, NY. He was principal of the Albany Female Academy until invited to come to Brooklyn in 1845 by the BFA board. When the BFA was destroyed by fire he was unanimously elected by the new board to be principal of Packer. Indomitable, untiring and eternally vigilant, Dr. Crittenden ruled Packer with an strict hand, as befitting the head of a prestigious girls school in the Victorian age. Because he was cross-eyed, he is shown in profile in all portraits. |
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John Prentice
Born in 1803, John Prentice was a partner with William Packer in the fur trading firm of Packer, Prentice and Company. He came to Brooklyn Heights in 1839 and, like his business partner, took a great interest in the civic affairs of the burgeoning City of Brooklyn. He was trustee and treasurer of the Brooklyn Female Academy and of Packer from 1845 until 1879. As chairman of the Park Commission, he was responsible for many of Prospect ParkÕs beautiful features. He also was trustee of the Brooklyn Bridge Commission. He died in 1881. |
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Abiel Abbott Low
Abiel Abbott Low was a New Englander by birth but came to Brooklyn in 1829 and was prominent in local affairs. An importer of tea and a builder of clipper ships, he became president of the Brooklyn Female Academy in 1858 and served on the Packer board until his death in 1893. He was known for his philanthropic interests in Packer and its personnel. He gave bonues to teachers and awarded scholarships to deserving Packer students anonymously. |
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Seth Low
Mayor of the village of Brooklyn, Seth Low was chair of the board of the Brooklyn Female Academy from 1850 to 1851. His son, A.A. Low was also a Packer board president, and his grandson, Seth Low, was the first mayor of greater New York and president of Columbia University. |
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Caroline Chesebro
Caroline Chesebro was a novelist and storyteller who was highly regarded as a teacher of composition during her time at Packer from 1865 until her death in 1873. Born in Canandaigua, NY in 1825, she began to write stories and articles for magazines at the age of 23. While at Packer she founded The Packer Quarterly, a journal of expository writing. Miss Chesebro's work continues to be of interest to scholars of women writers of the 19th century. |
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Maud Beveridge Nelson
Maud Beveridge Nelson was a graduate of the Packer Class of 1891. She returned that fall to teach history, and spent the rest of her working life at Packer. She became a secretary to the president of Packer, Truman Backus, in 1893 and in 1898 became the president's assistant, a position she held until her retirement in 1930. Tall, slender and erect, her beauty was said to be "of the spiritual type." For 38 years she was a constant presence at Packer, known by parents, teachers, students and alumni. |
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Joshua Van Cott
A trustee of Packer from 1856 until his death in 1896, he was president of the board for the last three years of his life. Descended from Dutch settlers, he practiced law both Brooklyn and New York, but spent most of his professional and volunteer life in Brooklyn. He drafted the charter of Packer and assisted in that of the Long Island (now Brooklyn) Historical Society. It is said that he regarded Packer girls as his daughters and was known for his wit and genial manner. |
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Darwin Eaton
Like Alonzo Crittenden, Darwin Eaton came to Brooklyn from Albany in the early days of the Brooklyn Female Academy. A graduate of Hamilton College, he was distinguished not only as a teacher but as lecturer and scientist. At Packer he headed the science department, but was also in charge of the school from 1867 to 1868 when Dr. Crittenden took a year of leave. He was unanimously nominated by the board of trustees to succeed Dr. Crittenden, but ill health forced him to resign the position. From1889 until his death in 1895 he was a member of Packer's board of trustees. |
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Raymond Huntington Woodman
A renowned concert organist, Raymond Huntington Woodman was born in 1861, studied under Cesar Francke in Paris in the 1880s, and played Packer's organ nearly every morning from 1895 until his retirement in 1940. Quiet and shy in personality, he was a master at the keyboard. He was also organist for over 50 years at the First Presbyterian Church on Henry Street. |
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Elizabeth Wright
A teacher of music, and head of the elementary school, Elizabeth Wright came to Packer in 1915 and remained until 1963. Known for her kind, yet firm personality, she is remembered by generations of 20th century Packer graduates. The Gilbert and Sullivan operettas which she staged annually in the Chapel were the staples of that era's musical education. |
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Bertha Backus Brown
A daughter of the second president of Packer, Bertha Backus Brown graduated from Packer in 1893. She was one of the first women graduates to be elected a trustee, a position she held from 1910 until 1945. |
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