The Elkins family philanthropy continues to be enjoyed by Philadelphians today. William Lukens Elkins (1832 – 1903) was a Gilded Age businessman and art collector. He was one of the first to convert oil to gasoline and was a founding partner of Standard Oil. Later he became a partner of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company. These business interests allowed him to enhance the artistic development of Philadelphia where he founded the Philadelphia Orchestra and an American art prize. Paintings from his private collection now hang at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Other notable family members are his daughter, Eleanor, who was rescued from the Titanic, but lost her first husband and son, an avid book collector, to the sinking ship. She then founded the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard, which continues today to house one of America’s most important book collections. His son George W. Elkins founded Abingdon Memorial Hospital on Elkins Park land to benefit the community. His granddaughter, Stella Elkins Tyler, was both a sculptor and patron, gifting her Elkins Park estate home to Temple University, which became the Tyler School of Fine Arts.

J. E. Caldwell was founded as both jeweler and watchmaker in Philadelphia in 1839 on Chestnut Street. They built their reputation to become one of America’s finest jewelry and silversmiths. During the 1920’s their reputation continued as they produced fine Art Deco jewelry. It would only be natural for the Elkins family to have frequented the shop for their silver and jewelry purchases. This important ring carries a legacy of American and Philadelphia jewelry history.