Sarah Graham Kenan

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Sarah Graham Kenan
BornFebruary 17, 1876
William R. Kenan, Jr.
(brother)

Sarah Graham Kenan (February 17, 1876 – March 16, 1968) was an American heiress and philanthropist. She inherited a third of her sister's share of the

University of North Carolina at Wilmington. In 1930, through an endowment she made, the Southern Historical Collection was established at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
.

Early life and family

Sarah Graham Kenan was born on February 17, 1876, in

Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller.[1][4] Kenan was a descendant of the politician and American Revolutionary War veteran James Kenan. Her grandfather was the Confederate politician Owen Rand Kenan. Her family, members of North Carolina's planter class, owned Liberty Hall Plantation in Kenansville
, a town named after her family.

Kenan was educated in New York and in Raleigh, graduating from St. Mary's Junior College in 1893.[1][5][6]

Philanthropy

After her brother-in-law's death, his oil fortune was inherited by her sister,

University of North Carolina at Wilmington.[1]

In 1930, she helped the

UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.[4][7]

Personal life

Kenan's home in Wilmington

Kenan married her cousin, the attorney Graham Kenan, on December 19, 1912.[1] Her husband died on February 5, 1920, in New York City.[1] They had no children.[1] After her husband's death, Kenan purchased a brick colonial house on Market Street in Wilmington.[1] She travelled extensively, spending time in Palm Beach and St. Augustine, Florida, and Lake Placid, New York.[1]

Death and legacy

Kenan died on March 16, 1968, in Wilmington. A funeral service was held at St. James Episcopal Church on March 20, 1968.[1] She was buried next to her parents in Oakdale Cemetery.[1]

After her death, her nephew, James Graham Kenan, gifted her home on Market Street to the state for the board of trustees of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.[1] The house is now used as the official residence of the university's chancellor.[1][8] The Sarah Graham Kenan Auditorium on the university's campus is named after her.[1][9] The library at Saint Mary's School is named in her honor.[10] The University of North Carolina School of the Arts named a scholarship after her.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Kenan, Sarah Graham | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org.
  2. ^ Kenan III, Thomas S. (1988). "Kenan, William Rand". NCPedia. State Library of North Carolina.
  3. ^ Lennon, Preston (January 17, 2021). "UNCW looking into Sarah Kenan's background, but renaming auditorium unlikely".
  4. ^ a b c d e "Sarah Graham Kenan · Carolina's Early Benefactors · Carolina Story: Virtual Museum of University History". The Carolina Story. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  5. ^ "Alumnae" (PDF). www.sms.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  6. ^ "Saint Mary's School Alumnae Magazine| Summer 2017". Issuu.
  7. ^ "UNC School of Medicine Announces three new Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professors". Newsroom. March 8, 2018.
  8. ^ "Kenan House: History and Information" (PDF). libres.uncg.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  9. ^ "Kenan Auditorium: Office of the Arts: UNCW". uncw.edu.
  10. ^ "The Sarah Graham Kenan Library - Saint Mary's School". www.sms.edu.
  11. ^ "Sarah Graham Kenan Scholarship of Excellence". www.uncsa.edu.
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