The Marshall Foundation is a well-known institution to students and faculty at the University of Arizona and to most Tucsonans.
Louise Foucar Marshall left her mark on Tucson and the UA long before the foundation was established. From βTucson: A Drama in Timeβ:
1900
Louise Foucar (b. 1864 in Boston to a family that had emigrated from Germany) had begun graduate study at the University of Arizona in 1898, having come to Tucson from Denver after developing tuberculosis and heart problems. In 1900 she becomes UAβs first woman professor, teaching botany. Because of earlier studies, she also taught English, French, Latin, and Spanish. In 1901 she is named head of the Department of Ancient and Modern Languages. Using money inherited from her parents, she begins buying up raw land around the university, which is still far from downtown but now accessible by the Tucson Street Railway.
1931
Louise Foucar Marshall, who in 1901 had become the first woman faculty member at UA, shoots her husband. Thomas Marshall, whom she suspected of having an affair with a former housekeeper as well as poisoning her, was struck five times. He died of an infection three weeks later and Louise Marshall is charged with first-degree murder. She was defended by local lawyers James Boyle and George Darnell in a trial that was moved to Nogales. Her defense: temporary insanity. After a long trial, the jury deliberated for about a half-hour before acquitting Marshall. She returns to developing her properties in Tucson and building the Marshall Foundation. When Marshall dies in 1956, at the age of 92, the holdings of the Marshall Foundation are worth more than $900,000. In 2014, the foundation was collecting income from 76 commercial and retail tenants and donated $1 million to scholarships and other charitable and educational causes in Tucson.
 Bad Girls of Arizona: Louise Marshall $0.99 Kindle Nook Free for Star subscribers 7/8/2014 |
