Abby Rockefeller Mauzé
Abigail Aldrich Rockefeller | |
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Born | November 9, 1903 |
Died |
May 27, 1976 72) New York City | (aged
Occupation | philanthropist |
Spouse(s) |
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Children |
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Parent(s) | |
Relatives | See Rockefeller family |
Abigail Aldrich "Abby" Rockefeller (November 9, 1903 – May 27, 1976) was an American philanthropist. She was the first child and only daughter of philanthropists John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and Abigail Greene "Abby" Aldrich. She was commonly referred to as "Babs" to avoid confusion with her mother. She and her five brothers carried on the Rockefeller family tradition of philanthropy stemming back to their paternal grandparents Standard Oil co-founder John Davison Rockefeller Sr. and schoolteacher Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman.
Unlike her famous brothers, she always remained out of the public eye. Among the many positions she held were: membership of the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, set up by her and her brothers in 1940; advisory member of the Board of Trustees of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, (a chief benefactor of the Center along with her brother, Laurance, she received its Medal of Appreciation in 1965); and honorary trustee of the Rockefeller Family Fund, founded by various family members in 1967.
She was also a benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the YWCA, New York Hospital, the Museum of Modern Art (of which her mother was a founder, and in whose affairs her brothers Nelson and David played a major role); the New York Zoological Society (which was a major interest of her brother Laurance); and the Asia Society, which was established by another brother, John D. Rockefeller III.
In 1968 she created the Greenacre Foundation, of which she was president, in order to maintain and operate one more parks in New York State for the benefit of the public. She also made cash and stock contributions to East Woods School, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York Hospital, the Population Council, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the American Red Cross.
She owned property in Bermuda, the Roman Corporation at One Beekman Place, and property at the Pocantico family estate (see Kykuit). She married three times:
- David M. Milton (1900—1976), a lawyer and banker. Married May 14, 1925 and divorced 1943. They had two daughters:
- Abigail Rockefeller Milton (born 1928), married George Dorr O'Neill
- Marilyn Ellen Milton (1931—1980), married William Kelly Simpson
- Laura Knickerbacker Simpson (1954-2012), married
- Abigail Rockefeller Simpson (born 1958), married Todd Mydland.
- Dr. Irving H. Pardee (1892—1949), neurologist. Married 1946—1949.
- Jean Mauzé (1903—1974), banker. Married April 23, 1953 to January 1974.
She died on May 27, 1976, at her apartment in One Beekman Place in New York City.
See also
- Rockefeller family
- Winthrop Rockefeller
- David Rockefeller
- Nelson Rockefeller
- Laurance Rockefeller
- John D. Rockefeller Jr.
- John D. Rockefeller III
- Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Further reading
- Rockefeller Archive Center: Brief biography
- Memoirs, David Rockefeller, New York: Random House, 2002.
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