Caroline B. Nichols

{{Infobox person

| name = Caroline Nichols

| image = Caroline B Nichols 1864 1939 USA.png

| alt =

| caption = Portrait of Caroline Nichols in Frances E. Willard's Occupations for Women (1897)

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1864

| birth_place = Dedham, Massachusetts

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1939|08|17|1864}}

| death_place = Boston, Massachusetts

| nationality = American

| other_names =

| occupation = conductor

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works =

}}

Caroline B. Nichols (1864–1939) was an American violinist, conductor and founder of the Fadette Ladies Orchestra (known as the Fadettes of Boston). Along with Emma Roberto Steiner, she is credited as one of the first women in the United States to make a successful career out of conducting musical performances.{{Cite book | editor-last = Bowen | editor-first = José Antonio | title = The Cambridge Companion to Conducting | series = Cambridge Companions to Music| publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2007 | pages = 221–222 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7zsis3X3XUMC&q=%22emma+roberto+steiner%22 | isbn = 978-0-521-52791-0}}{{Cite journal |last=Santella|first=Anna-Lise P. |date=2010-02-24 |title=Nichols [Daniel], Caroline B. |journal=Grove Music Online |url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002085442 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2085442|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |access-date=2018-10-08|url-access=subscription }}

Nichols was a founding member of Marion Osgood's Ladies Orchestra, and about four years later she became a founding member of the Fadettes of Boston in 1888, a sextet including Ethel Atwood. She quickly rose from first violin to conductor as the small group became a chamber orchestra, assuming leadership in 1890.{{cite book |last1=Willard |first1=Frances E. (Frances Elizabeth) |last2=Winslow |first2=Helen M. (Helen Maria) |last3=White |first3=Sallie Elizabeth Joy |title=Occupations for women. A book of practical suggestions, for the material advancement, the mental and physical development, and the moral and spiritual uplift of women |date=1897 |publisher=New York, The Success company |url=https://archive.org/details/occupationsforwo00will/page/234}} She led the Fadettes for more than thirty years. The group played and toured until 1920{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92MYAgAAQBAJ&q=Caroline+B.+Nichols&pg=PA147|title=Women Music Educators in the United States: A History|last=Howe|first=Sondra Wieland|date=2013-11-07|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810888487|language=en}} and played more than 6000 concerts.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-JcDQAAQBAJ&q=Caroline+B.+Nichols&pg=PT195|title=Unsung: A History of Women in American Music|last=Ammer|first=Christine|date=2016-07-26|publisher=BookBaby|isbn=9781483577005|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVMiAwAAQBAJ&q=Caroline+B.+Nichols&pg=PT326|title=The Cambridge Companion to Conducting|last=Bowen|first=José Antonio|date=2003-11-20|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107494787|language=en}} As a child, she studied violin with Julius Eichberg, Leopold Lichtenberg, and Charles Loeffler. Nichols eventually retired to Boston and trained orchestra members and was instrumental in helping women to be financially independent.

She died in Boston in 1939.