Sophia Braeunlich

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Sophia Braeunlich
"A Woman of the Century"
BornSophia Toepken
(1854-07-02)July 2, 1854
Bethpage, New York, now known as Old Bethpage, U.S.
DiedAugust 11, 1898(1898-08-11) (aged 44)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupationbusiness manager, journalist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Subjectengineering, mining
SpouseConrad Robert Braeunlich

Sophia Braeunlich (

St. Petersburg, Russia
in 1897. She died in 1898.

Early life and education

Sophia Toepken was born on Long Island in Bethpage, New York, now known as Old Bethpage, July 2, 1854.[2][a] She was the daughter of Frederick and Mary Toepken. Losing her parents when very young, from the age of four,[3] she was cared for by her aunt, her mother's sister, Mrs. Henry Grahlfs, of Brooklyn, with whom she resided during the remainder of her life.[4]

Her education was carefully conducted in the United States and in Germany, where she spent several years,[4] from the age of twelve,[2] till sixteen, when she returned to her aunt's home.[3]

Career

Shortly after her return to Brooklyn, she married Conrad Robert Braeunlich,[4] but her husband died after a brief time. Left dependent upon her own resources, she then entered the Packard Business College in New York City, taking a full course of study, and graduating from in 1879. Braeunlich was the first of the women graduates of that institution to enter professional life, Mr. Packard having secured a position for her as amanuensis[5] in the office of The Engineering and Mining Journal, on December 11, 1879.[2] She worked for Richard Pennefather Rothwell, the editor of that journal and president of the Scientific Publishing Company. In 1885, she advanced to the position of exchange news editor and reader.[4]

The publishing and book selling trade of the company was large and influential, covering all topics related to the mineral industries of all countries.

Eleventh Census. She increased the efficiency of the force, the business of the company, and the influence of The Engineering and Mining Journal, The Mineral Industry, and other publications of the company, and their value to the thousands who read them. Her interest covered every department of the business, whether editorial, news gathering, circulation, or advertising of The Engineering and Mining Journal and The Mineral Industry, or the growing publishing and bookselling trade of the company.[2]

Braeunlich was a member of the Professional Woman's League and the Woman's Press Club, in both of which she was an honored and influential member, although she refused to take part in their public proceedings. She was the first American woman elected a fellow of the Imperial Institute of Great Britain.[2] In July 1892, it was reported that Braeunlich had been ill and hospitalized for almost 21 weeks,[6] but in 1897, she was a delegate to the international geological congress at St. Petersburg, Russia.[1] Her office was the same one which Henry Ward Beecher used at the time of his editorial work on The Christian Union.[7]

Death and legacy

Braeunlich died in New York City, on August 11, 1898.[5][2][1]

The Sophia Fund, incorporated in May, 1900, was organized by Rothwell as a memorial to Braeunlich. The object of the fund was to "remove friendless little girls from dangerous and demoralizing surroundings and place them in desirable private families, and where possible to have them adopted". The fund started with a donation of about US$25,000, a part of which was contributed from moneys left by Braeunlich. [8]

Notes

  1. ^ Willard & Livermore give her birth date as July, 1860.[3]

References

Attribution

  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Charity Organization Society (1901). Charities: The Official Organ of the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York. Vol. 6 (Public domain ed.). Charity Organization Society of the City of New York.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Griswold, Kate E. (1892). Profitable Advertising. Vol. 2 (Public domain ed.). Kate E. Griswold.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Iron and Machinery World (1893). Iron and Machinery World. Vol. 84 (Public domain ed.). St. Louis: Iron and Machinery World.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: McGraw Hill Publishing Company (1898). "Sophia Braeunlich. By B. P. BOTHWELL.". Engineering and Mining Journal. Vol. 66 (Public domain ed.). McGraw Hill Publishing Company.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: White, J. T. (1907). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography (Public domain ed.). J. T. White.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the .

External links