Helen Morgan Hamilton

Helen Morgan Hamilton (June 12, 1896 – January 25, 1985) was an Army Officer, serving as deputy director of and ultimately achieving the rank of Lieutenant colonel of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. She is also the granddaughter of investment banker J.P. Morgan and a descendant of U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was born in Ramapo, New York, the eldest child of William Pierson Hamilton (1869–1950) and Juliet Pierpont Morgan (1870–1952). Her siblings included Pierpont Morgan Hamilton (1898–1982), Laurens Morgan Hamilton (1900–1978), Alexander Morgan Hamilton (1903–1970), and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (1908–1919). She grew up at the family's estate "Table Rock" in Sloatsburg, New York. Her paternal grandfather was William Gaston Hamilton (1832–1913), a consulting engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company who was the son of John Church Hamilton (1792−1882) and grandson of the first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton. Her maternal grandparents were Fanny (née Tracy) Morgan (1842–1924) and John Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913). In the late 1930s, Helen was involved with the historic preservation of colonial Williamsburg, Virginia and was a founding trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1953. She served as president of the Foundation for the Preservation of Historic Georgetown, and a fellow of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. During World War II, after the death of her first husband, she entered the United States Army and was active in the formation of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, serving as deputy director, achieving the rank of Lieutenant colonel. In 1947, she was appointed consultant to Robert P. Patterson, U.S. Secretary of War, in connection with the proposed universal military training program. In this role, she advised Lt. Gen. Raymond S. McLain on matters pertaining to parents' interests in the proposed program. In 1949, she became director of the public liaison of the Economic Cooperation Administration, which administered the Marshall Plan.