| Birth: | Oct. 22, 1836 | | Death: | Oct. 13, 1911 | 
Philanthropist. She was a former school teacher, whose husband left her $250,000 he had made in real estate when he died. Twenty-five years later when she died, it had grown to more than a million dollars. Of that amount, she left $350,000 to Kansas City for the establishment of an art museum. For 16 years the city pondered how to use it in accordance with her will. By 1927 her gift had more than doubled in value. Then William Rockhill Nelson died leaving his wealth for the purchase of works of art. His heirs earmarked their estates for a building to house them. Mary Atkins' bequest was combined with Nelson's money to create the Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins Museum, aka Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. (bio by: Bill Walker)
Search Amazon for Mary Atkins | | | Burial:
Elmwood Cemetery
Kansas City
Jackson County
Missouri, USA |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Apr 26, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 21906 |
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(3.8 after 17 votes)
