Descendant of slave owners, Ellen Wilson lent her prestige to the cause of improving housing in the capital’s Negro slums. Visiting dilapidated alleys, she brought them to the attention of debutantes and Congressmen. Her death spurred passage of a remedial bill she had worked for. Her health failing slowly from Bright’s disease, she died serenely on August 6, 1914. On the day before her death, she made her physician promise to tell Wilson “later” that she hoped he would marry again; she murmured at the end, “…take good care of my husband.” Struggling grimly to control his grief, Wilson took her to Rome for burial among her kin.