Agnes E. Meyer
Agnes E. Meyer | |
---|---|
Mount Kisco, New York, U.S. | |
Education | Sorbonne University |
Alma mater | Barnard College, Columbia University |
Occupation(s) | Journalist, civil rights activist |
Spouse | |
Children | 5, including Florence Meyer and Katharine Graham |
Agnes Elizabeth Ernst Meyer (née Ernst; January 2, 1887 – September 1, 1970) was an American journalist, philanthropist,
The purchase of The Washington Post in 1933 gave Meyer and her family the capacity to affect American opinion for several generations. Daughter Katharine Graham led the newspaper during the coverage of Watergate Investigation that eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and earned the paper a Pulitzer Prize.[4] During Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist campaign in the 1950s, Meyer delivered speeches that characterized the campaign as a threat to academic freedom.[5][6]
Meyer was an active patron and supporter of the arts,[7] who with her husband contributed paintings by Paul Cézanne and Edouard Manet, sculptures by Constantin Brâncuși, and watercolors by John Marin to the National Gallery of Art in Washington.[8]
Early life and education
Meyer was born on January 2, 1887, in New York City to Frederic and Lucy Ernst, who were first-generation German Lutheran immigrants.
Ernst met her future husband Eugene Meyer, who was 11 years her senior, in an art gallery while she was at Barnard.[3] Ernst graduated in 1907,[3] then continued her studies at the Sorbonne in 1908–09, where she encountered Edward Steichen, Auguste Rodin, Constantin Brâncuși, and Gertrude and Leo Stein.[1][9]
Career and influence
Journalist and speaker
Shortly after graduating from Barnard, Meyer was hired by the old New York Sun as one of the newspaper's first woman journalists.[1] Katharine Rhoades, Marion Beckett and Meyer were known as "The Three Graces" of the Alfred Stieglitz art circle.[12]
In 1915–1916, she created and published the literary art magazine
In June 1945, she wrote a five-part series for the Post titled "Orderly Revolution."
During Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist campaign in the 1950s, Meyer delivered speeches that characterized the campaign as a threat to academic freedom. She spoke at the convention of the American Association of School Administrators in Atlantic City, New Jersey, calling his behavior an affront to the dignity of a free people.[5] Speaking at the Barnard Forum, Meyer argued that "security is not an aim in itself," that without freedom it "reduces life to that of the prison."[17] Her gender politics were more traditionalist and typical of the decade, however, seen when she wrote an article for the Atlantic Monthly in which she asserted "Women have many careers but only one vocation – motherhood. . . . Women must boldly announce that no job is more exacting, more necessary, or more rewarding than that of housewife and mother. Then they will feel free to become once more the moral force of society through the stabilization of the home."[18]
Meyer's investigative journalism showed the inequities of racial segregation in the Washington metropolitan area schools.
Civil rights activist
Meyer lobbied for integration of public schools and an end to racial discrimination in employment. Meyer advocated for the creation of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and the United States government providing federal aid to states for education. Lyndon B. Johnson credited her with having the most influence over his education policies.[3][13]
On November 17, 1956, Agnes E. Meyer addressed the National Council of Negro Women in Washington D.C.[1]
Throughout the 1960s she continued to dedicate her time to improving public education through the creation and financial support of several not-for profit organizations.[1][3]
Philanthropy
In 1944, with her husband she created the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation to provide funding for civic activities, particularly those related to improving public education.[1]
In 1958, Meyer with her husband co-founded the Agnes and Eugene Meyer Fund to provide support for professors of her Alma mater, Barnard College[1] and provided funding to the New School for Social Research.[3] The next year, she founded the Urban Service Corps a program to offer mentoring to school children in Washington D.C. In 1960.[1] Meyer founded the National Committee for the Support of the Public Schools and was the chairwoman until her death.[1]
Art patronage
Meyer met Charles Lang Freer, the Detroit industrialist and collector in 1913 at a Chinese painting exhibition. Over the years, together they studied and collected Chinese and other Asian art. When Freer died before the Freer Gallery of Art was completed, Meyer and her husband took over making the final decisions.[19] During the 1993 renovation of the Gallery, the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Auditorium was remodeled and dedicated to them.[19]
The Meyer family contributed paintings by Paul Cézanne and Édouard Manet, sculptures by Constantin Brâncuși, and watercolors by John Marin to the National Gallery of Art.[8]
Personal life
She returned to the United States from Paris in 1910 and married Eugene in a small Lutheran wedding. At that time, Eugene was established in his career as an
Meyer and Eugene had five children together.
In 1917, the Meyers relocated to Washington, D.C., and for the next sixteen years Eugene had a series of positions within the federal government, including
In 1919, the Meyers built a mansion on the
Meyer was chairwoman of the Westchester County Recreation Commission for eighteen years (1923–1941).[13]
Meyer had a twenty-year-long friendship with Thomas Mann[27][28] She helped to create an active social life for him during his exile to the United States,[29][30] by introducing him into elite social circles in New York and Washington. In 1938, she secured a position as lecturer in the humanities for him at Princeton University.[30][31]
Death and legacy
At the age of 83, Meyer died of cancer at Seven Springs Farm.[3][13]
While living, Meyer was honored by receiving 14 honorary degrees, and awards from the
The Washington Post established the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award in 1983 to recognize exceptional teachers. More than 500 teachers in the Metropolitan Washington area have received this honor in her name.[32]
The Library of Congress holds the Agnes Elizabeth Ernst Meyer Papers which includes her diaries, correspondence with family, friends, and her career as an author and social activist, her speeches, and an unpublished manuscript for a memoir.[5][13]
Bibliography
- Chinese Painting: As Reflected in the Thought and Art of Li Lung-Mein, 1070–1106 (New York, 1923).
- Out of These Roots: The Autobiography of an American Woman (Boston, 1953).
References
- ^ S2CID 160779266.
- ^ a b c d e f "Our History | Meyer Foundation". meyerfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Agnes Ernst Meyer (1887–1970)". www2.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
- ^ "Paper Route". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ a b c d e "Agnes Elizabeth Ernst Meyer Papers" (PDF). Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. United States Library of Congress. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
- ^ "Mother and Daughter Journalists Agnes Meyer and Katharine Graham Shaped Journalism". Women of Every Complexion and Complexity. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- ^ "Graham Holdings-Our Company-History". www.ghco.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
- ^ a b c d "National Gallery of Art – Recent Acquisitions". 2009-01-14. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ ISBN 978-0-674-62733-8
- ISBN 978-0-7434-2857-6.
- ISBN 978-0-674-62733-8
- ISBN 978-0-87451-906-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-62733-8.
agnes meyer out of these roots.
- ^ Agnes Ernst Meyer (1945). "Orderly Revolution". The Washington Post.
- ISBN 978-1-60980-290-5.
- ISBN 978-0-394-57243-7.
- ^ "Columbia Daily Spectator 8 February 1954 — Columbia Spectator". spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ Agnes E. Meyer (1950). "Women Aren't Men". Atlantic Monthly. 186 (August): 32–36.
- ^ ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ "Agnes Meyer" (PDF). Freer-Sackler. Smithsonian. 2016-02-29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ^ Ullmann, Michaela. "Research Guides: Exiled German-speaking intellectuals in Southern California: Oscar and Florence Homolka". libguides.usc.edu. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
- ^ a b "Washington, DC—White-Meyer House". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ Carlyle, Erin. "Inside Seven Springs, The Lavish Mansion Where The Trumps Spent Summers". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
- JSTOR 40125694.
- ISSN 1558-7266.
- JSTOR 29781828.
- ^ ISBN 0-691-07069-5.
Agnes Meyer.
- ^ "Thomas Mann's second home in Manhattan | Culture | DW.COM | 29.08.2012". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
External links
Media related to Agnes E. Meyer at Wikimedia Commons