George Foster Peabody
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This article is about George Foster Peabody, the Southern United States banker and philanthropist. For information about George Peabody, the dry goods merchant and phlilanthropist in the northern United States, see George Peabody.
George Foster Peabody (July 27, 1852 – March 4, 1938) was born in Columbus, Georgia. He was educated there in private schools. A lifelong Democrat, he nonetheless supported the "Gold Democrats" against William Jennings Bryan in 1896, as did his friend President Grover Cleveland. He spent many years in banking, but retired in 1906 to pursue a life of philanthropy and public service. In 1904-1905, Peabody was the treasurer of the Democratic National Committee. He married Katrina Trask, the widow of a close friend, on February 5, 1921, but she died in 1922.
The Peabody Award is named after him, as was the former George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee.
A lengthier biographical excerpt written by Louise Ware in the Dictionary of American Biography (23: 520–521, 1958) is reprinted at George Foster Peabody (1852–1938) and Peabody Park at UNCG (http://rjohara.net/peabody/gfpeabody.html).
Source: This article is based largely on Who Was Who in America, Volume I: 1897–1942 (Chicago, 1942).