Mary Duke Biddle
Encyclopedia
Mary Lillian Duke Biddle (November 16, 1887 – June 14, 1960), was an American philanthropist.
as Mary Lillian Duke to Benjamin Newton Duke
. She attended Durham's Trinity College, the institutional predecessor of Duke University
, which was named in honor of her family. She graduated in 1907 with a degree in English
.
She was a great enthusiast for the arts and traveled frequently with her family to New York City for the theater and opera, later becoming an accomplished singer and musician.
In 1918 she was given her father's brick-and-limestone Beaux-Arts townhouse on Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, built in 1901; it is one of only nine surviving mansions on Fifth Avenue.
Her marriage to Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.
in 1915 ended in divorce in 1931. She and her husband owned an estate, "Linden Court", in Tarrytown, New York
, bought from the William R. Harris family in 1921. It still stands today as The Tarrytown House Estate and Conference Center.
She established the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in 1956. Since then the Foundation has donated more than $28 million in grants to non-profit organizations.
Biography
She was born on November 16, 1887 in Durham, North CarolinaDurham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
as Mary Lillian Duke to Benjamin Newton Duke
Benjamin Newton Duke
Benjamin Newton Duke was a U.S. tobacco, textile, energy industrialist and philanthropist.-Biography:...
. She attended Durham's Trinity College, the institutional predecessor of Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, which was named in honor of her family. She graduated in 1907 with a degree in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
.
She was a great enthusiast for the arts and traveled frequently with her family to New York City for the theater and opera, later becoming an accomplished singer and musician.
In 1918 she was given her father's brick-and-limestone Beaux-Arts townhouse on Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, built in 1901; it is one of only nine surviving mansions on Fifth Avenue.
Her marriage to Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.
Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.
Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr. , also known as A. J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. or Tony Biddle, was a wealthy socialite who became a diplomat of the United States, and served in the United States Army during World War I and after World War II, reaching the rank of major general.-Biography:Biddle was the...
in 1915 ended in divorce in 1931. She and her husband owned an estate, "Linden Court", in Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
, bought from the William R. Harris family in 1921. It still stands today as The Tarrytown House Estate and Conference Center.
She established the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in 1956. Since then the Foundation has donated more than $28 million in grants to non-profit organizations.