Born Elizabeth Lowell Putnam in Brookline, MA in the late 19th century to parents Augustus Lowell of the privileged Lowell family of Boston. Elizabeth grew up on her families 10 acre estate with her brothers Abbott Lawrence and Percival and her sister Amy Lowell who would later call the family home Sevenel's for the 7 family members in residence. Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. ... Augustus Lowell was President of Boott Cotton Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1897 and the father of Abbott Lawrence Lowell. ... The Lowell family was founded in America by Percival Lowle (1571–1664); his grown sons John (1595–1647) and Richard (1602–82); and his daughter, Joanna Oliver (1609–77), when their families sailed from England to the newly established settlement of Newburyport on the north shore of the Merrimack... Abbott Lawrence Lowell, portrait by John Singer Sargent U.S. educator, historian, and President of Harvard University (1909–33), Abbott Lawrence Lowell (January 1, 1856–January 6, 1943) was born to Augustus Lowell and his wife Katherine Bigelow Lowell at the families 10 acre estate in Brookline, MA. The Lowell... Percival observing Mars from the Lowell Observatory. ... Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school, who posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. ...

In 1888, Elizabeth married her third cousin and family lawyer William Putnam, Senior. Elizabeth was an early activist for prenatal care. Prenatal care refers to the regular routine check-ups recommended for women before and during pregnancy. ...

In 1927, sometime after her husbands death, Elizabeth Lowell Putnam established the William Lowell Putnam Intercollegiate Memorial Fund in order to begin a college-level mathematics competition. This contest, which continues to this day, began in 1935 under the direction of the Mathematical Association of America. The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, often abbreviated to Putnam Competition, is an annual mathematics competition for undergraduate college students, awarding scholarships and cash prizes ranging from $250 to $2,500 for the top students and $5,000 to $25,000 for the top schools. ... The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on undergraduate mathematics education. ...