Anna Maria Richardson Harkness (October 25, 1837 – March 27, 1926) was an
Americanphilanthropist.
Early life
She was born on October 25, 1837, in
Dalton, Ohio,[1] and was the daughter of James Richardson and Anna (
née Ranck) Richardson.[2] Not much is known about her early life.[3]
Married life
On February 13, 1854, then sixteen-year-old Anna was married to the 34-year-old
Stephen Vanderburgh Harkness, an early investor with
John D. Rockefeller who became the second-largest shareholder in
Standard Oil before his death in March 1888.[2] Stephen had previously been married to Laura Osborne, who died in August 1852, and with whom he had three children, only one of whom,
Lamon V. Harkness, was living at the time of their marriage. Together, Anna and Stephen lived at his estate on
Euclid Avenue in Cleveland (known as Millionaires' Row) and were the parents of four more children, three of whom survived to adulthood:[2]
Jennie A. Harkness (1856–1864), who died young.[2]
Florence Harkness (1864–1895), who married the widower
Louis Henry Severance (1838–1913).
Edward Stephen Harkness (1874–1940),[7][8] who married Mary Stillman (1874–1950), daughter of New York attorney Thomas Stillman, in 1904.[9]
Her husband died aboard his yacht on March 6, 1888,[10] and was buried in Cleveland's
Lake View Cemetery.[11] He left an estate valued at $150 million (equivalent to $4.5 billion in 2023) and Anna inherited one-third of his fortune: $50 million (equivalent to $1.49 billion in 2023), consisting primarily of stock in Standard Oil.[12]
In 1891, Anna moved to New York City, but continued to maintain a home in
Willoughby, Ohio.[13] She died on March 27, 1926, at her home,
820 Fifth Avenue in New York City.[14] After a private funeral,[15] she was buried alongside her late husband in Lake View Cemetery.[11] At her death, she had already given away $40 million,[16] yet her wealth had increased to nearly $85 million (equivalent to $1.17 billion in 2023).[17]
Philanthropy
Their first child, Jennie, died aged seven in 1864. After her death, the Harknesses erected and furnished a memorial pavilion at
Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland as a memorial to her.[13][18] On July 29, 1895, within a year of Florence's marriage to
Louis Severance, the former Treasurer of
Standard Oil, their second daughter also died. Similarly, Anna and her son-in-law Louis donated the funds for the construction of the Florence Harkness Memorial Chapel at
Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.[19]
After her eldest son
Charles died in 1916,[20] Anna gave $3 million (equivalent to $47 million in 2023) to
Yale University for the construction of
Memorial Quadrangle in Charles's memory, including
Harkness Tower, the most visible symbol of Yale on the
New Haven skyline. Anna's portrait by
Albert Herter is displayed in the dining hall of
Saybrook College, part of the Memorial Quadrangle.[21] In 1920, she donated an additional $3 million to Yale towards increases in faculty salaries.[22]