Rich in Good Works

Mary M. Emery of Cincinnati

Millard F. Rogers Jr.

9781884836664

237 pages

University of Akron Press

Hardback $22.95

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Overview

At the death of her husband in 1906, Mary Muhlenberg Emery (1844-1927) became one of the richest women in the United States. Recognizing her vast responsibility, she embarked on a philanthropic program that endowed or initiated children's programs, hospitals and medical institutions, orphanages, colleges and universities, an art museum, a zoological park, various cultural agencies, and other causes that benefited humankind. Mary Emery's most costly benefactions were directed to the founding of Mariemont, Ohio, a planned community near Cincinnati, and to the formation of a major collection of paintings. Her paintings by such old masters as Titian, Mantegna, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, and Hals were bequeathed to the Cincinnati Art Museum. This well-illustrated biography explores her gifts and life from its beginnings in New York City through family tragedies to the legacy she left behind.

Author Bio

Millard F. Rogers, Jr. holds a M.A. in art history from the University of Michigan. He served twenty years as director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and currently serves as Director Emeritus. His previous publications include: Randolph Rogers, American Sculptor in Rome; Spanish Paintings in the Cincinnati Art Museum; Favorite Paintings from the Cincinnati Art Museum; and Sketches and Bozzetti by American Sculptors, 1800-1950.