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{{Short description|American businesswoman (1887–1973)}} | |||
{{Infobox_Celebrity | |||
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{{redirect|Marjorie Post|the American actress Marjorie Armstrong Post|Markie Post}} | ||
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}} | |||
|image = | |||
{{Infobox person | |||
|caption = Marjorie Meriweather Post in 1929 {{puic|1=|log=2009 April 8}} | |||
| name = Marjorie Merriweather Post | |||
|image_size = 200 px | |||
| image = Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton Davies NYWTS.jpg | |||
|birth_date = {{birth date|1887|3|15}} | |||
| caption = Post in 1942 | |||
|birth_place = ] | |||
| |
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|03|15}} | ||
| birth_place = ], U.S | |||
|death_place = | |||
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1973|09|12|1887|03|15}} | |||
|occupation = ],], ] (founder), ] (owner) | |||
| death_place = ], U.S. | |||
|networth = ]$1 billion (2008 dollars) | |||
| alma_mater = ] (]) | |||
|salary = | |||
| occupation = {{hlist|Businesswoman|socialite|philanthropist}} | |||
|website = | |||
| spouse = {{plainlist| | |||
* {{marriage|Edward Bennett Close|1905|1919|reason=div}} | |||
* {{marriage|]|1920|1935|reason=div}} | |||
* {{marriage|]|1935|1955|reason=div}} | |||
* {{marriage|Herbert A. May|1958|1964|reason=div}} | |||
}} | |||
| children = 3; including ] and ] | |||
| father = ] | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''Marjorie Merriweather Post''' a.k.a. '''Marjorie Merriweather Post Close Hutton Davies May''' (] ] – ] ]) was a leading ] ] and the founder of ], Inc. She was 27 when her father died, and she became the owner of the rapidly growing ] later becoming the wealthiest woman in America when her fortune reached approximately ]$250 million. | |||
'''Marjorie Merriweather Post''' (March 15, 1887 – September 12, 1973) was an American businesswoman, ], and ]. She was the daughter of ] and the owner of ]. For much of Marjorie Post's life, she was known as the wealthiest woman in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barrett |first=William P. |title=Lawsuits Nibble Away At Famous Fortune |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/1019/forbes-400-rich-list-09-marjorie-post-estates-old-money.html |access-date=2023-09-17 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Byrne |first=Hannah |date=2021-01-14 |title=Toasting to the Museum that Never Was |url=https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/toasting-museum-never-was |access-date=2023-09-17 |website=Smithsonian Institution Archives |language=en}}</ref> | |||
Marjorie Post was born in ], the daughter of ] and Ella Letitia Merriweather. | |||
Post used much of her fortune to collect art, particularly ]-era ], much of which is now on display at ], the museum which was her estate in ] She is also known for her mansion, ], in ]. | |||
==Marriages== | |||
Post married four times. In 1905, she married investment banker ] of ]: They divorced in 1919. Their eldest daughter Adelaide married Thomas Durrant, Merrall McNeille, and banker ]; their second daughter, Eleanor Post Close, later known in the media as Eleanor Post Hutton, married director ], Etienne Marie Robert Gautier, George Curtis Rand, ], Owen D. Johnson, and conductor ]. By his second marriage, ] would become the paternal grandfather of actress ]. | |||
==Early life== | |||
Secondly, she married, in 1920, ], financier. In 1923, Edward Hutton became the chairman of the board of the Postum Cereal Company, and they developed a larger variety of food products, including ]. The company became the ] Corporation. Post and Hutton divorced in 1935. Their only child, Nedenia Marjorie, became an actress under the name ], who married Stanley M. Rumbough, Jr., actor ], and Ted Hartley. | |||
Marjorie Merriweather Post was born in ], the daughter and only child of ] and Ella Letitia Merriweather. At age 27, following her father's death in 1914, she became the owner of the rapidly growing ], founded in 1895. She inherited a ] 20 million fortune.<ref name="Robertson">{{cite news|last1=Robertson|first1=Nan|title=A Lot of Grape Nuts|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/02/archives/a-lot-of-grape-nuts-post.html|access-date=December 9, 2016|work=]|date=July 2, 1978}}</ref> | |||
Post lived in Battle Creek, Michigan from ages 3-14. She then moved to Washington, D.C. to attend the ] (now the ]'s Mount Vernon Campus). She maintained a close lifelong relationship with her alma mater and served as its first alumna trustee. Today, a collection of her correspondence with Mount Vernon administrators is maintained by GWU's Special Collections Research Center.<ref>, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University</ref> Post's complete collection of personal papers, as well as those of her father, are held by the ]'s ].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-85519| title=Post Family Papers: 1882-1973| publisher=Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan| access-date=February 23, 2017}}</ref> | |||
In 1935 Post married, as her third husband, ], a Washington lawyer: They divorced in 1955. The couple lived in the Soviet Union from 1937 to 1938, while he served as second American ambassador to the ] under ]. During this time, Davies and Post acquired many valuable Russian works of art from Soviet authorities. | |||
== General Foods Corporation == | |||
In 1951 their home, Hillwood located in ], ] was sold to Long Island University for $200,000. It became C.W. Post College, now known as the ]. | |||
Post became the owner of ] in 1914, after the death of her father, and was a director of the company until 1958. She, along with her second husband, ], began expanding the business and acquiring other American food companies such as ] Mayonnaise, ], ], ], and many more. In 1929, Postum Cereal Company was renamed ].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.postconsumerbrands.com/news/marjorie-post/ | title=Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Founder of Post Consumer Brands }}</ref> | |||
While taking a voyage on her yacht, the ], she came across the innovations of ] in ]. Birdseye had developed a new way to preserve food by freezing it. Post foresaw the future advantages of frozen food, and bought Birdseye's company, which eventually became a success.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/13/archives/mrs-marjorie-merriweather-post-is-dead-at-86-a-rich-working-woman.html|title=Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post Is Dead at 86|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 13, 1973}}</ref> | |||
Her final marriage occurred in 1958 to ], a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman, and former Master of Fox Hounds of The Rolling Rock Hunt Club in ]. She divorced May in 1964, and subsequently reclaimed her full maiden name of Marjorie Merriweather Post. | |||
== Philanthropy == | |||
==Russian Art Collection== | |||
Post funded a U.S. Army hospital in ] during ], and, decades later, the French government awarded her the ], in the degree of Commander. Starting in 1929 and throughout the Great Depression, she financed and personally supervised a ] feeding station in New York. She also donated the cost of the ] headquarters in Washington. Years later in 1971, she was among the first three recipients of the ], presented by the ]. The 425-acre (172 ha) Lake Merriweather at ] in Goshen, Virginia, was named in her honor. | |||
During the 1930s, the Soviet government under ] began selling art treasures and other valuables seized from the Romanov family and other Russian citizens after the Russian revolution in order to earn hard currency for its industrialization and military armament programs. Critics have claimed that these items were expropriated, however Post's tranactions were from the recognized governmental authority. She herself (or Davies for that matter) were not involved with the original seizing of the items. | |||
It was later alleged that many works of art from the ] and other collections were either donated or offered at nominal prices to Post and her then-husband ], who were both art collectors. Davies is also alleged to have purchased art expropriated from Soviet citizens well after the ], including victims of ] at discount prices from Soviet authorities.<ref>Tzouliadis, Tim, ''The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia'' Penguin Press (2008), ISBN: 1594201684, 9781594201684</ref> | |||
In 1966, at ], she became honorary housemother of Zeta Beta Tau's Gamma Delta chapter, often hosting the fraternity brothers for brunches. Post served as the honorary house mother of the college's first local fraternity, Sigma Beta Epsilon, which, in 1969, became the New York Beta chapter of ]. Since Post had borne only girls, she referred to the fraternity of sons-in-law as her "boys", while they called her "Mother Marjorie". Post was honored by ] fraternity as a "Golden Daughter of Minerva".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Landmark of the Week: The Mansion {{!}} The Pioneer|url=http://liupostpioneer.com/landmark-of-the-week-the-mansion-2/|last=postpioneer|language=en-US|access-date=May 1, 2020}}</ref> | |||
Many of the items which remain under the control of the Post estate or their agents can be viewed at former Washington DC estate of Post, Maywood, which has operated as a private museum since Mrs. Post's death. | |||
She donated $100,000 to the National Cultural Center in Washington that would later become the ]. In 1955, she contributed $100,000 to the ] for free concerts that led to the beginning of the Music for Young America Concerts, which she financed annually.<ref name=":0" /> The ], an outdoor concert venue in ], is named for her.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-best-amphitheaters-in-america-20130620/merriweather-post-pavilion-columbia-maryland-19691231|title=The Best Amphitheaters in America: Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland|newspaper=Rolling Stone|access-date=January 17, 2015}}</ref> | |||
==Lifestyle== | ==Lifestyle== | ||
] | ], Marjorie Merriweather Post's estate on Palm Beach Island]] | ||
] | ] | ||
]]] | |||
]'']] | |||
=== Jewelry === | |||
Marjorie Merriweather Post was also known for her lavish homes, the largest of which was ] which is located in ]. Designed by ], Mar-A-Lago was purchased from the Post Family Trust by ]. Trump in turn had the 110,000 square foot (10,000 m²) house completely restored to its original state. Mar-A-Lago originally had 115 rooms and a 9-hole golf course, and sits on a strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Worth. It is nicknamed "the jewel of Palm Beach." Mrs. Post's other estate, ] (]), is operated as a museum, displaying her French and Russian art collection featuring the work of ], Sèvres porcelain, French furniture, tapestries, and paintings. | |||
Some of Post's jewelry, bequeathed to the ] in Washington, D.C., is displayed in the ] exhibit. Pieces in the collection include the ] and the ], a 275-] (55 g) diamond-and-turquoise necklace and tiara set that ] gave to his second wife, ]; the ], a pair of diamond earrings set with pear shapes, weighing 14 ct (2.8 g) and 20 ct (4 g), once belonging to ]; the Blue Heart Diamond, a 30.82-ct (6.164 g) heart-shaped blue diamond ring; and an emerald-and-diamond necklace and ring, once belonging to Habsburg aristocrat and one time emperor of Mexico, ].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://geogallery.si.edu/index.php/10002700/maximillian-emerald|title=Maximillian Emerald| website=Smithsonian: National Museum of Natural History| access-date=July 28, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://geogallery.si.edu/index.php/10002692/blue-heart-diamond| title=Blue Heart Diamond| website=Smithsonian: National Museum of Natural History| access-date=July 28, 2019}}</ref> | |||
===Russian art collection=== | |||
With her second husband, ], she was the owner of ] (Hussar II), the largest privately owned sea-going ] in the world. Post also owned ] in the ], which she considered a "rustic retreat", with a fully staffed main lodge and private guest cabins, each staffed with its own butler. The Huttons also owned Hillwood in ], ], which later became the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. Another home, which she shared with ] in Washington, D.C., was called ]. | |||
According to the ] Foundation, Post was a ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hermitagemuseumfoundation.org/files/8613/5767/3050/Newsletter-January-2010.pdf|title=Hermitage Museum Foundation Newsletter|work=Hermitage Museum Foundation website|date=January 2010|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=December 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217024338/http://www.hermitagemuseumfoundation.org/files/8613/5767/3050/Newsletter-January-2010.pdf}}</ref><ref>Dworkin, Scott (February 5, 2017). . Dworkin website. from the original November 26, 2020. from the original December 17, 2020.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gutierrez|first=Rual|url=https://medium.com/@themexican/trumps-russian-connections-a-handy-timeline-d5a820ee1ac5|title=Trump's Russian Connections, A Handy Timeline|work=]|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=March 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301224955/https://medium.com/@themexican/trumps-russian-connections-a-handy-timeline-d5a820ee1ac5}}</ref> During the 1930s, the Soviet government under ] began selling art treasures and other valuables seized from the ] and former Russian aristocrats after the ] to earn hard currency for its industrialization and military armament programs. Critics{{who|date=August 2016}} have claimed that these items were expropriated; however, the transactions by Post and her third husband, ],{{efn|Joseph E. Davies was the ] from November 23, 1936 to June 11, 1938. He wrote about his experiences in the 1941 book ''Mission to Moscow''.}} were from the recognized governmental authority.<ref name=Wright>{{cite book| last=Wright| first=William| title=Heiress: The Rich Life of Marjorie Merriweather Post| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gik1AAAAIAAJ&q=russian+art| publisher=New Republic Books| year=1978| isbn=978-0915220366| pages=164–165}}</ref> Neither Post nor Davies were involved with the original seizing of the items. Allegations later surfaced that many works of art from the ] and other collections were either donated or offered at nominal prices to the couple, who were both art collectors. Davies is also alleged to have purchased art expropriated from Soviet citizens well after the Russian Revolution, including victims of ] at discount prices from Soviet authorities.<ref name=Wright/><ref>{{cite book| last=Tzouliadis| first=Tim| title=The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKNf4v80tlgC&q=russian+art| publisher=]| date=July 17, 2008| isbn=978-1-59420-168-4}}</ref> | |||
Many of the items, which remain under the control of the Post estate or its agents, can be viewed at ], her former estate.<ref name="Fabrikant"/> Hillwood has operated as a private museum since Post's death and displays her French and Russian art collection, featuring the work of ], ], French furniture, tapestries, and paintings.<ref name="NYTObit"/> | |||
Marjorie Post donated some of her jewelry to the ] in Washington D.C.; it is displayed in the ] exhibit. Pieces in the collection include the ] and ] (a 275 carat (55 g) diamond and turquoise necklace and tiara set ] gave to his second wife, ]), a pair of 20 carat (4 g) diamond earrings belonging to ], a 30.82 carat (6.164 g) blue heart diamond ring, and an emerald and diamond necklace and ring belonging to Mexican emperor ]. | |||
== Notable residences == | |||
Her donation of funds to construct field hospitals in ] during ] was recognized by the French government awarding her the ]. In 1971 she was among the first three recipients of the ] presented by the ]. | |||
* ], ]: Designed by ] and ], Post willed Mar-a-Lago to the United States federal government in 1973 as a retreat for presidents and visiting foreign dignitaries.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Rothman|first=Lily|url=https://time.com/4661763/mar-a-lago-donald-trump-marjorie-post/|title=The Mar-a-Lago Club Was a 'Winter White House' Even Before President Trump Got There|date=February 16, 2017|magazine=]}}</ref> Congress repealed acceptance of the estate in 1980 and the Post Foundation sold it to Donald Trump in 1986. Ultimately the mansion was thus used for this purpose during the Trump administration. It was declared a ] in 1980; it had been a National Historic Site since 1969.<ref name="nhl">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1823&ResourceType=Building|title=Mar-a-Lago|date=December 23, 1980|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402032009/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1823&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=April 2, 2009}}</ref><ref name="nrhpinv">{{Cite web|last=McKithan|first=Cecil N.|date=August 31, 1981|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Mar-a-Lago|url={{NHLS url |id=80000961}}|publisher=United States Department of the Interior}} {{NHLS url|id=80000961|title=Includes four exterior photos from 1967.|photos=y}} {{small|(942 kB)}}</ref> | |||
* ]: now operates as a private museum since Post's death and displays her French and Russian art collection, featuring the work of ], ], French furniture, tapestries, and paintings.<ref name="NYTObit" /> | |||
* ], Upper St. Regis Lake, New York: a "rustic retreat" in the ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/28/nyregion/state-finds-no-buyer-for-mountain-camp.html|title=State Finds No Buyer For Mountain Camp|date=April 28, 1985|work=]|access-date=December 9, 2016}}</ref> It included a fully staffed main lodge and private guest cabins, each staffed with its own butler. The expansive ], built in 1923 by ], eventually contained nearly 70 buildings, as well as a Russian ], on 300 acres. It was one of only two Adirondack camps to be featured in ].{{citation needed|date = February 2023}} | |||
* '']'' (''Hussar V''): a yacht that was personally designed by Post, and built as a replacement for the original yacht '']'' for her and her second husband, ], in 1931. It was the largest privately owned sea-going ] in the world at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=689469|title=Sea Cloud - IMO 8843446 Sea Cloud, bt. 1931, gt. 2531|access-date=December 13, 2014}}</ref> They traveled the world on it for portions of the year with their daughter ]. After her divorce from Hutton, she renamed the yacht ''Sea Cloud'', and continued to sail it with her new husband Joseph E. Davies for his ambassadorial trips to the Soviet Union. She sold the yacht in 1955 to the President of the Dominican Republic, ]; it is now a cruise ship. | |||
* ]: Built in 1922 in ], after Post purchased and greatly altered the former Warburton Hall Estate, it was designed in the Tudor revival style by architect Charles Mansfield Hart. Post sold it in 1951 to Long Island University, and the property would later become ]. In 2005, it was restored and renamed Winnick House and is used for campus administration, academic offices and event space.<ref name=":1" /> | |||
==Personal life== | |||
The ], an outdoor concert venue, in ] is named for her. | |||
=== Marriages === | |||
The Marjorie R. Post Park in ] on ] has been incorrectly linked with the cereal heiress, but that park was in fact named for Marjorie R. Post (now Marjorie Toombs of Vermont), who was the first woman elected to the board of the ]. It is unknown at this time if there is any connection between the Long Island branch of Marjorie Merriweather Post's family and that of Marjorie R. Post for whom the park in Massapequa is named. | |||
'''Edward Bennett Close''': In 1905, Post married investment banker Edward Bennett Close of ]. They divorced in 1919. Together, they had two daughters:<ref name="NYTObit" /> | |||
*Adelaide Brevoort Close (1908–1998), who married three times,<ref name="Fabrikant">{{cite news| last1=Fabrikant| first1=Geraldine| title=Hillwood Museum Plans Society Bridal Exhibit| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/arts/design/hillwood-museum-plans-society-bridal-exhibit.html| access-date=December 9, 2016| work=]| date=March 16, 2011}}</ref> to Thomas Wells Durant, Merrall MacNeille, and Augustus Riggs IV.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/adelaide-brevoort-close-24-cdz70|access-date=2021-02-25|website=www.ancestry.com|title=Adelaide Brevoort Close 1908-1998 - Ancestry®}}</ref> | |||
*] (1909–2006), later known in the media as "Eleanor Post Hutton", married six times,<ref name="Fabrikant" /> to film director ], Etienne Marie Robert Gautier, George Curtis Rand, ], Owen D. Johnson (son of author ]), and orchestra conductor ]. | |||
Via his second marriage, Edward Bennett Close would later become the paternal grandfather of actress ]. | |||
''']:''' Post was married for a second time, in 1920, to financier ]. In 1923, he became the chairman of the board of the Postum Cereal Company. Together they developed a larger variety of food products, including ]. The company became the ] Corporation in 1929. Post and Hutton divorced in 1935. They had one daughter: | |||
==Movie== | |||
* ] (1923–2017), better known as the actress ].<ref name="NYTObit" /> | |||
In the movie ''Mission to Moscow'' that is based on Davies' ambassadorship, Mrs. Davies is played by ]. | |||
] (center) with ] at a presentation of a Naval Reserve Pennant on board her yacht '']''.]] | |||
''']''': In 1935, Post married her third husband, ], a Washington, D.C., lawyer.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.watertownhistory.org/articles/Addendums_to_Articles/Davies_Post_Wedding.htm |title=Watertown Boy and The Battle Creek Girl |newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal |date=17 December 1935 |via=Watertown Historical Society}}</ref> They had no children and were divorced in 1955. From November 1936 to June 1938, in a crucial period leading up to ], Davies served as the American ambassador to the ], ruled at that time by ]. Post accompanied Davies to Moscow, and they acquired many valuable Russian works of art from Soviet authorities at very reasonable prices. | |||
'''Herbert A. May:''' Post's final marriage, in 1958, was to Herbert A. May, a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman and the former master of fox hounds of the Rolling Rock Hunt Club in ]. That marriage ended in divorce in May 1964 and she subsequently reclaimed the name Marjorie Merriweather Post.<ref name="NYTObit" /> | |||
=== Death === | |||
Post died at her Hillwood estate in ], on September 12, 1973, after a long illness, and was buried there.<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news| title=Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post Is Dead at 86| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/13/archives/mrs-marjorie-merriweather-post-is-dead-at-86-a-rich-working-woman.html?_r=0| access-date=December 9, 2016| work=]| date=September 13, 1973}}</ref> She left the bulk of her estate to her three daughters.<ref name="will">{{cite news| title=Mrs. Post's Will Filed in Capital| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/26/archives/mrs-posts-will-filed-in-capital-bulk-of-her-holdings-left-to-three.html| access-date=December 9, 2016| work=The New York Times| date=September 26, 1973}}</ref> | |||
==In popular culture== | |||
Merriweather Post was portrayed by ] in the 1943 film '']''. It was a dramatization of the book by the same title, written by her third husband Joseph E. Davies, who had chronicled his time as U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union. | |||
] portrayed Merriweather Post in the 1987 miniseries '']''. She was portrayed by Morgan Bradley in the ] ] series '']'', which debuted in 2019. | |||
A fictionalized version of Merriweather Post was played by ] in the 2024 Netflix film '']'' written by ]. | |||
In 2008, '']'' published an article, "]",<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/garden/12puzzle.html?pagewanted=all| work=The New York Times| first=Penelope| last=Green| title=Mystery on Fifth Avenue| date=12 June 2008}}</ref> about a luxury ] apartment that the occupants, Steven Klinsky and Maureen Sherry, had "redesigned to include hidden compartments, messages, puzzles, poems, codes and games for their four preteen kids."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.observer.com/2008/j-j-abrams-produce-nyts-fifth-avenue-mystery |title=J.J. Abrams to Produce NYT's ''Fifth Avenue'' Mystery |newspaper=The New York Observer |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624233139/http://www.observer.com/2008/j-j-abrams-produce-nyts-fifth-avenue-mystery}}</ref> The apartment was originally part of a triplex built for Merriwether Post in the 1920s. The redesign was undertaken by ] and his architectural firm, 212box. American filmmaker ] purchased the rights to "Mystery on Fifth Avenue" but as yet no film about it has been produced.<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Hart |first=Hugh |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/06/jj-abrams-makes/ |title=J.J. Abrams To Make Movie About Fantastical New York Apartment |magazine=Wired |date=10 June 2008}}</ref> | |||
==Legacy== | |||
] in ], is named in her honor because of her years of sustained financial support for the National Symphony. | |||
Merriweather Hall (formerly 'The Post House') and Post Hall, at the ]'s ], is named in her honor.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 10, 2024 |title=A Select Chronology of Mount Vernon Seminary and College |url=https://library.gwu.edu/mount-vernon-chronology |access-date=April 10, 2024 |website=GW Libraries and Academic Innovation}}</ref><ref name="Mount Vernon Campus 2023">{{cite web | title=Post Hall — The George Washington University | website=Mount Vernon Campus | date=2023-03-07 | url=https://mountvernon.gwu.edu/post-hall | access-date=2023-10-05}}</ref> | |||
== See also == | |||
* ], named for E.B. Close | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
{{ |
{{Notelist}} | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
| last = Rubin/Rubin Stuart| first = Nancy | |||
| year = 1995 | |||
| title = American Empress: The Life and Times of Marjorie Merriweather Post | |||
| publisher = Villard | |||
| isbn = 0-679-41347-2 | |||
}} | |||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
{{commons}} | |||
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* {{cite web |last=Lisenbee |first=Kenneth |title=MARJORIE MERRIWEATHER POST: a biography by Kenneth Lisenbee |website=paulbowles.org |date=2011-05-15 |url=https://paulbowles.org/marjoriemerriweatherpost.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218151449/https://paulbowles.org/marjoriemerriweatherpost.html |archive-date=2022-02-18 |url-status=dead |ref=none}} | |||
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* {{cite book |last=Stuart |first=Nancy Rubin |author-link=Nancy Rubin Stuart |title=American Empress: The Life and Times of Marjorie Merriweather Post |publisher=Villard Books |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=9780679413479 |oclc=30733706 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanempressl00rubi |url-access=registration |ref=none}} | |||
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*{{imdb title|id=0036166|title=Mission to Moscow}} | |||
{{Post Holdings}} | |||
{{General Foods}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 01:08, 12 December 2024
American businesswoman (1887–1973) "Marjorie Post" redirects here. For the American actress Marjorie Armstrong Post, see Markie Post.
Marjorie Merriweather Post | |
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Post in 1942 | |
Born | (1887-03-15)March 15, 1887 Springfield, Illinois, U.S |
Died | September 12, 1973(1973-09-12) (aged 86) Washington, DC, U.S. |
Alma mater | Mount Vernon Seminary and College (Washington, DC) |
Occupations |
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Spouses |
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Children | 3; including Eleanor Post Hutton and Dina Merrill |
Father | C. W. Post |
Marjorie Merriweather Post (March 15, 1887 – September 12, 1973) was an American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist. She was the daughter of C. W. Post and the owner of General Foods Corporation. For much of Marjorie Post's life, she was known as the wealthiest woman in the United States.
Post used much of her fortune to collect art, particularly Imperial-era Russian art, much of which is now on display at Hillwood, the museum which was her estate in Washington, D.C. She is also known for her mansion, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Early life
Marjorie Merriweather Post was born in Springfield, Illinois, the daughter and only child of C. W. Post and Ella Letitia Merriweather. At age 27, following her father's death in 1914, she became the owner of the rapidly growing Postum Cereal Company, founded in 1895. She inherited a US$ 20 million fortune.
Post lived in Battle Creek, Michigan from ages 3-14. She then moved to Washington, D.C. to attend the Mount Vernon Seminary and College (now the George Washington University's Mount Vernon Campus). She maintained a close lifelong relationship with her alma mater and served as its first alumna trustee. Today, a collection of her correspondence with Mount Vernon administrators is maintained by GWU's Special Collections Research Center. Post's complete collection of personal papers, as well as those of her father, are held by the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library.
General Foods Corporation
Post became the owner of Postum Cereal Company in 1914, after the death of her father, and was a director of the company until 1958. She, along with her second husband, E.F. Hutton, began expanding the business and acquiring other American food companies such as Hellmann's Mayonnaise, Jell-O, Baker's Chocolate, Maxwell House, and many more. In 1929, Postum Cereal Company was renamed General Foods Corporation.
While taking a voyage on her yacht, the Hussar, she came across the innovations of Clarence Birdseye in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Birdseye had developed a new way to preserve food by freezing it. Post foresaw the future advantages of frozen food, and bought Birdseye's company, which eventually became a success.
Philanthropy
Post funded a U.S. Army hospital in France during World War I, and, decades later, the French government awarded her the Legion of Honour, in the degree of Commander. Starting in 1929 and throughout the Great Depression, she financed and personally supervised a Salvation Army feeding station in New York. She also donated the cost of the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Washington. Years later in 1971, she was among the first three recipients of the Silver Fawn Award, presented by the Boy Scouts of America. The 425-acre (172 ha) Lake Merriweather at Goshen Scout Reservation in Goshen, Virginia, was named in her honor.
In 1966, at Long Island University's C.W. Post College, located on her former Long Island estate, she became honorary housemother of Zeta Beta Tau's Gamma Delta chapter, often hosting the fraternity brothers for brunches. Post served as the honorary house mother of the college's first local fraternity, Sigma Beta Epsilon, which, in 1969, became the New York Beta chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Since Post had borne only girls, she referred to the fraternity of sons-in-law as her "boys", while they called her "Mother Marjorie". Post was honored by Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity as a "Golden Daughter of Minerva".
She donated $100,000 to the National Cultural Center in Washington that would later become the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 1955, she contributed $100,000 to the National Symphony for free concerts that led to the beginning of the Music for Young America Concerts, which she financed annually. The Merriweather Post Pavilion, an outdoor concert venue in Columbia, Maryland, is named for her.
Lifestyle
Jewelry
Some of Post's jewelry, bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is displayed in the Harry Winston exhibit. Pieces in the collection include the Napoleon Diamond Necklace and the Marie Louise Diadem, a 275-ct (55 g) diamond-and-turquoise necklace and tiara set that Napoleon I gave to his second wife, Empress Marie Louise; the Marie Antoinette Diamond Earrings, a pair of diamond earrings set with pear shapes, weighing 14 ct (2.8 g) and 20 ct (4 g), once belonging to Marie Antoinette; the Blue Heart Diamond, a 30.82-ct (6.164 g) heart-shaped blue diamond ring; and an emerald-and-diamond necklace and ring, once belonging to Habsburg aristocrat and one time emperor of Mexico, Maximilian.
Russian art collection
According to the Hermitage Museum Foundation, Post was a Russophile. During the 1930s, the Soviet government under Joseph Stalin began selling art treasures and other valuables seized from the Romanov family and former Russian aristocrats after the Russian Revolution to earn hard currency for its industrialization and military armament programs. Critics have claimed that these items were expropriated; however, the transactions by Post and her third husband, Joseph E. Davies, were from the recognized governmental authority. Neither Post nor Davies were involved with the original seizing of the items. Allegations later surfaced that many works of art from the Tretyakov Gallery and other collections were either donated or offered at nominal prices to the couple, who were both art collectors. Davies is also alleged to have purchased art expropriated from Soviet citizens well after the Russian Revolution, including victims of Stalin's Terror at discount prices from Soviet authorities.
Many of the items, which remain under the control of the Post estate or its agents, can be viewed at Hillwood, her former estate. Hillwood has operated as a private museum since Post's death and displays her French and Russian art collection, featuring the work of Fabergé, Sèvres porcelain, French furniture, tapestries, and paintings.
Notable residences
- Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida: Designed by Marion Sims Wyeth and Joseph Urban, Post willed Mar-a-Lago to the United States federal government in 1973 as a retreat for presidents and visiting foreign dignitaries. Congress repealed acceptance of the estate in 1980 and the Post Foundation sold it to Donald Trump in 1986. Ultimately the mansion was thus used for this purpose during the Trump administration. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980; it had been a National Historic Site since 1969.
- Hillwood (Washington, D.C.): now operates as a private museum since Post's death and displays her French and Russian art collection, featuring the work of Fabergé, Sèvres porcelain, French furniture, tapestries, and paintings.
- Camp Topridge, Upper St. Regis Lake, New York: a "rustic retreat" in the Adirondack Mountains. It included a fully staffed main lodge and private guest cabins, each staffed with its own butler. The expansive Great Camp, built in 1923 by Benjamin A. Muncil, eventually contained nearly 70 buildings, as well as a Russian dacha, on 300 acres. It was one of only two Adirondack camps to be featured in Life magazine.
- Sea Cloud (Hussar V): a yacht that was personally designed by Post, and built as a replacement for the original yacht Hussar IV for her and her second husband, E. F. Hutton, in 1931. It was the largest privately owned sea-going yacht in the world at the time. They traveled the world on it for portions of the year with their daughter Nedenia. After her divorce from Hutton, she renamed the yacht Sea Cloud, and continued to sail it with her new husband Joseph E. Davies for his ambassadorial trips to the Soviet Union. She sold the yacht in 1955 to the President of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo; it is now a cruise ship.
- Hillwood (Long Island): Built in 1922 in Brookville, New York, after Post purchased and greatly altered the former Warburton Hall Estate, it was designed in the Tudor revival style by architect Charles Mansfield Hart. Post sold it in 1951 to Long Island University, and the property would later become LIU Post. In 2005, it was restored and renamed Winnick House and is used for campus administration, academic offices and event space.
Personal life
Marriages
Edward Bennett Close: In 1905, Post married investment banker Edward Bennett Close of Greenwich, Connecticut. They divorced in 1919. Together, they had two daughters:
- Adelaide Brevoort Close (1908–1998), who married three times, to Thomas Wells Durant, Merrall MacNeille, and Augustus Riggs IV.
- Eleanor Post Close (1909–2006), later known in the media as "Eleanor Post Hutton", married six times, to film director Preston Sturges, Etienne Marie Robert Gautier, George Curtis Rand, Hans Habe, Owen D. Johnson (son of author Owen Johnson), and orchestra conductor Léon Barzin.
Via his second marriage, Edward Bennett Close would later become the paternal grandfather of actress Glenn Close.
Edward Francis Hutton: Post was married for a second time, in 1920, to financier Edward Francis Hutton. In 1923, he became the chairman of the board of the Postum Cereal Company. Together they developed a larger variety of food products, including Birdseye Frozen Foods. The company became the General Foods Corporation in 1929. Post and Hutton divorced in 1935. They had one daughter:
- Nedenia Marjorie Hutton (1923–2017), better known as the actress Dina Merrill.
Joseph E. Davies: In 1935, Post married her third husband, Joseph E. Davies, a Washington, D.C., lawyer. They had no children and were divorced in 1955. From November 1936 to June 1938, in a crucial period leading up to World War II, Davies served as the American ambassador to the Soviet Union, ruled at that time by Joseph Stalin. Post accompanied Davies to Moscow, and they acquired many valuable Russian works of art from Soviet authorities at very reasonable prices.
Herbert A. May: Post's final marriage, in 1958, was to Herbert A. May, a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman and the former master of fox hounds of the Rolling Rock Hunt Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. That marriage ended in divorce in May 1964 and she subsequently reclaimed the name Marjorie Merriweather Post.
Death
Post died at her Hillwood estate in Washington, D.C., on September 12, 1973, after a long illness, and was buried there. She left the bulk of her estate to her three daughters.
In popular culture
Merriweather Post was portrayed by Ann Harding in the 1943 film Mission to Moscow. It was a dramatization of the book by the same title, written by her third husband Joseph E. Davies, who had chronicled his time as U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union.
Anne Francis portrayed Merriweather Post in the 1987 miniseries Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story. She was portrayed by Morgan Bradley in the History Channel docudrama series The Food That Built America, which debuted in 2019.
A fictionalized version of Merriweather Post was played by Amy Schumer in the 2024 Netflix film Unfrosted written by Jerry Seinfeld.
In 2008, The New York Times published an article, "Mystery on Fifth Avenue", about a luxury Fifth Avenue apartment that the occupants, Steven Klinsky and Maureen Sherry, had "redesigned to include hidden compartments, messages, puzzles, poems, codes and games for their four preteen kids." The apartment was originally part of a triplex built for Merriwether Post in the 1920s. The redesign was undertaken by Eric Clough and his architectural firm, 212box. American filmmaker J. J. Abrams purchased the rights to "Mystery on Fifth Avenue" but as yet no film about it has been produced.
Legacy
Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, is named in her honor because of her years of sustained financial support for the National Symphony.
Merriweather Hall (formerly 'The Post House') and Post Hall, at the George Washington University's Mount Vernon Campus, is named in her honor.
See also
- Close City, Texas, named for E.B. Close
- Post Cereals
- Post, Texas
- Merriweather Post Pavillion
Notes
- Joseph E. Davies was the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union from November 23, 1936 to June 11, 1938. He wrote about his experiences in the 1941 book Mission to Moscow.
References
- Barrett, William P. "Lawsuits Nibble Away At Famous Fortune". Forbes. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
- Byrne, Hannah (January 14, 2021). "Toasting to the Museum that Never Was". Smithsonian Institution Archives. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
- Robertson, Nan (July 2, 1978). "A Lot of Grape Nuts". The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- Guide to the Mount Vernon Seminary and College Collection of Biographical Materials and Correspondence with Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1901-1999, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University
- "Post Family Papers: 1882-1973". Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
- "Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Founder of Post Consumer Brands".
- ^ "Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post Is Dead at 86". The New York Times. September 13, 1973.
- ^ postpioneer. "Landmark of the Week: The Mansion | The Pioneer". Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- "The Best Amphitheaters in America: Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
- "Maximillian Emerald". Smithsonian: National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- "Blue Heart Diamond". Smithsonian: National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- "Hermitage Museum Foundation Newsletter" (PDF). Hermitage Museum Foundation website. January 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- Dworkin, Scott (February 5, 2017). Trump Hosted Event for Putin Sr Advisor at Mar a Lago in 2010. Dworkin website. Archived from the original November 26, 2020. Archived from the original December 17, 2020.
- Gutierrez, Rual. "Trump's Russian Connections, A Handy Timeline". The Medium. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ Wright, William (1978). Heiress: The Rich Life of Marjorie Merriweather Post. New Republic Books. pp. 164–165. ISBN 978-0915220366.
- Tzouliadis, Tim (July 17, 2008). The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-168-4.
- ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (March 16, 2011). "Hillwood Museum Plans Society Bridal Exhibit". The New York Times. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ "Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post Is Dead at 86". The New York Times. September 13, 1973. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- Rothman, Lily (February 16, 2017). "The Mar-a-Lago Club Was a 'Winter White House' Even Before President Trump Got There". Time.
- "Mar-a-Lago". December 23, 1980. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009.
- McKithan, Cecil N. (August 31, 1981). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Mar-a-Lago". United States Department of the Interior. Includes four exterior photos from 1967. (942 kB)
- "State Finds No Buyer For Mountain Camp". The New York Times. April 28, 1985. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- "Sea Cloud - IMO 8843446 Sea Cloud, bt. 1931, gt. 2531". Retrieved December 13, 2014.
- "Adelaide Brevoort Close 1908-1998 - Ancestry®". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- "Watertown Boy and The Battle Creek Girl". The Milwaukee Journal. December 17, 1935 – via Watertown Historical Society.
- "Mrs. Post's Will Filed in Capital". The New York Times. September 26, 1973. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- Green, Penelope (June 12, 2008). "Mystery on Fifth Avenue". The New York Times.
- "J.J. Abrams to Produce NYT's Fifth Avenue Mystery". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008.
- Hart, Hugh (June 10, 2008). "J.J. Abrams To Make Movie About Fantastical New York Apartment". Wired.
- "A Select Chronology of Mount Vernon Seminary and College". GW Libraries and Academic Innovation. April 10, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- "Post Hall — The George Washington University". Mount Vernon Campus. March 7, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
External links
- Guide to the Mount Vernon Seminary and College Collection of Biographical Materials and Correspondence with Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1901-1999, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University
- Finding Aid for the Post Family Papers, 1882-1973, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
- Lisenbee, Kenneth (May 15, 2011). "MARJORIE MERRIWEATHER POST: a biography by Kenneth Lisenbee". paulbowles.org. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022.
- Stuart, Nancy Rubin (1995). American Empress: The Life and Times of Marjorie Merriweather Post. New York: Villard Books. ISBN 9780679413479. OCLC 30733706.
Post Holdings, Inc. | ||
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Post Consumer Brands | ||
Weetabix Ltd. | ||
Private brands | ||
Other | ||
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General Foods Company | ||
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People | ||
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- 1887 births
- 1973 deaths
- 20th-century art collectors
- 20th-century American philanthropists
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 20th-century American businesswomen
- American art collectors
- American socialites
- Daughters of the American Revolution people
- Hutton family
- Mount Vernon Seminary and College alumni
- People from Brookville, New York
- Businesspeople from Palm Beach, Florida
- People from Springfield, Illinois
- Philanthropists from Illinois
- Philanthropists from New York (state)
- American recipients of the Legion of Honour
- American women art collectors
- Post Holdings
- General Foods
- Businesspeople from Washington, D.C.
- Mar-a-Lago