Nellie Lee Holt Bok

Nellie Lee Holt Bok
Nellie Lee Holt (later Bok), from a 1930 publication
Born
Nellie Lee Holt

(1901-02-01)February 1, 1901
Falls City, Nebraska, U.S.
DiedOctober 7, 1984(1984-10-07) (aged 83)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationsEducator, socialite, philanthropist
SpouseCurtis Bok
RelativesEdward Bok (father-in-law)
Mary Louise Curtis (mother-in-law)
Derek Curtis Bok (stepson)

Nellie Lee Holt Bok (February 1, 1901 – October 7, 1984) was an American educator, writer, and philanthropist, based in Philadelphia. She taught at Stephens College in Missouri before her marriage to judge Curtis Bok.

Early life and education

Holt was born in Falls City, Nebraska, the daughter of William Robert Holt and Eva Lezetta Giannini Holt.[1] She studied piano at the music conservatory at Saint Mary's College in Indiana, graduating in 1921. She earned a master's degree from the University of Nebraska.[2]

Career

Holt was a professor and chair of the religious education department at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, from 1925 to 1934.[3] After attending the World Federation of Education Associations meeting in Edinburgh in 1926,[2] she traveled the world studying youth movements, educational and religious institutions.[4] She met with Havelock Ellis, Hermann von Keyserling, Rabindranath Tagore, William Ralph Inge, and Maude Royden during this project, and interviewed Gandhi during her stay in an Indian ashram. "Speaking with the freshness of youth on problems which are confronting members of her own generation," explained one profile, "Miss Holt is seeking out the truth as it is presented in the twentieth century."[5]

She married in 1934 and moved to Philadelphia. She gave a radio lecture in support of the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936.[6] She was appointed to a seat on the Philadelphia County Board of Mothers' Assistance, Old Age Pension and Relief of the Blind. She resigned that position in 1937, the year she attended the coronation of King George VI with her husband. Eleanor Roosevelt mentioned visiting the Boks in Philadelphia, in a 1942 "My Day" column.[7] She helped establish the Philadelphia Fellowship Commission,[8] and was a member of the board of Philadelphia's Fellowship House during the 1940s.[9]

In 1956, Bok was appointed president of the American Foundation, Inc. The foundation supported Mountain Lake Sanctuary in Florida, and education programs for prisoners.[8] Sculptor Wharton Esherick worked on the Bok's Gulph Mills home in the 1930s.[10][11] Rachel Carson sought the Boks' advice on buying land for conservation.[12]

Publications

  • "To a Rag-Doll", "The Song Fugitive", "To Mother", and "On Moderation" (1919, poems)[13][14][15][16]
  • "Roses and War" and "The Tale of an Apple" (1919, stories)[17][18]
  • "Portia and Nora: A Comparison" (1919, essay)[19]
  • "Sing!" and "To Chaucer" (1920, poems)[20]
  • "The Conqueror: Pride or Prejudice?" (1920, essay)[21]
  • "Arbat 26" (1928)[22]
  • "Young Artists of Living" (1929)[23]
  • "Prepare Students for Social Contacts" (1930)[24]

Personal life

Holt married judge Curtis Bok in 1934; she was his second wife.[25] They had two daughters, Enid[26] and Rachel.[1] He died in 1962,[27] and she died in 1984, at the age of 83, in Philadelphia. Her papers and her husband's are in the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.[8] Temple University has oral history interviews conducted with Nellie Lee Bok in 1979.[28]

References

  1. ^ a b "Daughter to the Curtis Boks". The New York Times. March 30, 1937. p. 19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  2. ^ a b "Nellie Lee Holt Began Career by Criticizing Women's Clubs". Columbia Missourian. 1929-12-03. p. 9. Retrieved 2026-01-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Plans Wedding to Curtis Bok". The New York Times. November 16, 1934. p. 20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  4. ^ "Nebraska Girl Circled the Globe Searching for Formula of World Peace". The Lincoln Star. 1928-10-21. p. 21. Retrieved 2026-01-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Nellie Lee Holt". Michigan Education Journal. 8 (2): 94. October 1930.
  6. ^ "Mrs. Curtis Bok Joins Roosevelt Backers; Deserting the Republicans, She Says, to Follow 'Capable and Experienced Leader.'". The New York Times. August 6, 1936. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  7. ^ Roosevelt, Eleanor (February 26, 1942). "My Day". The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  8. ^ a b c "William Curtis Bok and Nellie Lee Holt Bok papers". Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  9. ^ Arnold, Stanley Keith (2014-05-28). Building the Beloved Community: Philadelphia’s Interracial Civil Rights Organizations and Race Relations, 1930–1970. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-62674-168-3.
  10. ^ de Muzio, David (June 2012). "Wharton Esherick's Music Room from the Curtis Bok House, Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, 1935–1938". Winterthur Portfolio. 46 (2/3): E58–E74. doi:10.1086/668642. ISSN 0084-0416.
  11. ^ Archer, Sarah; Fanning, Colin; Glasscock, Ann; Gore, Holly; Zilber, Emily (2024-10-01). The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick. Rizzoli International Publications. pp. 48–51. ISBN 978-0-8478-3638-3.
  12. ^ Carson, Rachel (2011-07-01). Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson. Beacon Press. pp. 172–173. ISBN 978-0-8070-9544-7.
  13. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (January 1919). "To a Rag-Doll". St. Mary's Chimes. 27 (5): 82.
  14. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (March 1919). "The Song Fugitive". St. Mary's Chimes. 27 (7): 113.
  15. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (April 1919). "To Mother". St. Mary's Chimes. 27 (8): 136.
  16. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (September 1919). "On Moderation". St. Mary's Chimes. 28 (1): 1.
  17. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (February 1919). "Roses and War". St. Mary's Chimes. 27 (6): 99–100.
  18. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (October 1919). "The Tale of an Apple". St. Mary's Chimes. 28 (2): 29.
  19. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (April 1919). "Portia and Nora: A Comparison". St. Mary's Chimes. 27 (8): 137.
  20. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (January 1920). "Sing! and To Chaucer". St. Mary's Chimes. 28 (5): 85 (Sing!), 88 (To Chaucer).
  21. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (April 1920). "The Conqueror: Pride or Prejudice?". St. Mary's Chimes. 28 (8): 139–140.
  22. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (February 1928). "Arbat 26". The Drama. 18 (5): 149.
  23. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (September 1929). "Young Artists of Living". Child Welfare: The National Parent-Teacher Magazine. 24 (1): 14–16.
  24. ^ Holt, Nellie Lee (November 1930). "Prepare Students for Social Contacts". Michigan Education Journal. 8 (3): 169.
  25. ^ "Curtis Bok Weds Nellie Lee Holt". The New York Times. November 26, 1934. p. 18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  26. ^ "Lawyer to Wed Enid Curtis Bok, Student at M.I.T.; Ferdinand Schoettle Jr. and Ph.D. Candidate to Marry Feb. 13". The New York Times. November 8, 1964. p. 97. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  27. ^ "W. Curtis Bok, 64, Justice, is Dead; Member of Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and Author". The New York Times. May 23, 1962. p. 45. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  28. ^ Nellie Lee Bok Oral Histories (1979), Temple Digital Collections, Temple University Libraries.
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