Geraldine Livingston Thompson

Birthdate: March 2, 1872
Death Date: September 9, 1967
NJ Town Affiliation: Red Bank

Born on March 2, 1872, Geraldine L. Thompson was a descendant of the prominent Livingston family. She was raised in New York during the Gilded Age. After surviving tuberculosis in her twenties, she married a wealthy sportsman, Lewis S. Thompson. The couple moved to the famous horse farm, Brookdale Farm.

Geraldine Thompson became the most influential woman in New Jersey history. Her accomplishments in public health, prison reform, child welfare, politics and philanthropy place her among the greatest women of her generation.

Often described as a cyclone, she became known for her relentless advocacy to protect the helpless and for fearlessly compelling officials to serve and protect the community.

Her career began in New Jersey politics and public health in 1910 when she funded a survey to study the impact of the New Jersey Poor Laws on Monmouth County. The report concluded that there was “the failure of public spirit and philanthropic enterprise in the county.” This prompted her to reform the system for providing public health and welfare services. The report detailed the terrible conditions of children and the elderly including the prevalence of poor housing and disease. The report concluded that “Disheartened groups…were ready to welcome some form of organization which promised better things.”

This prompted Thompson to found a Monmouth County branch of the state charity organization to bring “better things” to vulnerable residents in 1912. Almost immediately, the Monmouth County Branch became “its most active and successful chapter” and a model for other public health care organizations around the country. Thompson earned a national reputation as a reform leader and served as the group’s president for nearly 40 years. One of the largest volunteer public health nursing agencies in the United States, the VNA Health Group still provides care to over 60,000 New Jersey families every year.

A powerful woman in New Jersey politics, Geraldine L. Thompson did more than anyone to create public institutions and agencies in New Jersey history. Without her determined leadership, the institutional structure of New Jersey would have remained insufficient to provide needed services to its citizens. Thompson urged Governor Walter E. Edge to create the State Board of Control of Institutions and Agencies in 1918. Thompson’s idea for the Board of Control was to appoint unpaid volunteers to provide oversight over the various state institutions. She was the first woman appointed to a state board and served from 1918 until her retirement in 1957.

She also left her mark as a philanthropist and environmental conservationist. She donated over 200 acres of her farm to the Monmouth County Park System to create Thompson Park in Lincroft, New Jersey. She also was instrumental in the acquisition of the land for Island Beach State Park, the last unspoiled stretch of beach along the Atlantic coast, when private developers were poised to build on it. She also donated land along the Hudson River to establish Margaret and Lewis Norrie State Park.

Thompson died on September 9, 1967, at the age of 95.