Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson (1842-1911)

First woman Regent of the University of California, serving on the board from 1887 until her death. Wife of State Senator, Mother of Newspaperman, William Randolph Hearst.

Vital Statistics

 * Born 3 Dec 1842 in Franklin Co, Missouri
 * Died 13 April 1919 in Pleasonton, CA from complications of the great world-wide influenza epidemic of that year.
 * Burried with husband and son at the family mausoleum in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colima, San Mateo Co, California.
 * Married George_Hearst_(1820-1891) in Franklin Co, Missouri on 15 June 1862

Biography
At the age of 19, she married George Hearst, who later became a U.S. Senator. Soon after their marriage the couple moved to San Francisco, California, where Phoebe gave birth to their only child, William Randolph Hearst, in 1863.

A major benefactor of the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first woman Regent of the University of California, serving on the board from 1887 until her death. Also in 1887, she contributed to the establishment of the National Congress of Mothers, which evolved eventually into the National Parent-Teacher Association. In 1900, she co-founded the National Cathedral School in Washington, DC. A public elementary school near the National Cathedral School bears her name.[1]

She was a member of the Bahá'í Faith. She briefly travelled to Akko and Haifa in Palestine (modern day Israel) on pilgrimage, arriving on December 14, 1889. She later wrote, "Those three days were the most memorable days of my life" [2]