Heiress and daughter of William Rockhill Nelson. Along with husband Irwin Kirkwood, they ran the Kansas City Star newspaper after the death of her father. Laura died alone in a Baltimore hotel room February 27, 1926, leaving the paper for husband Irwin Kirkwood to sell as dictated by Nelson's will. Despite bids from leading newspaper tycoons, including Hearst and Gannett, Kirkwood and Star employees bought the paper to keep it in local hands. Irwin Kirkwood arranged for the Nelson mansion to be razed after his death, and the site donated for an art gallery to house the collection acquired with Nelson trust funds. Irwin Kirkwood died August 29, 1927, and the estates of Mrs. Nelson and the Kirkwoods, along with a $350,000 bequest of Mary Atkins, who had died October 13, 1911, created the Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins Museum, aka Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Heiress and daughter of William Rockhill Nelson. Along with husband Irwin Kirkwood, they ran the Kansas City Star newspaper after the death of her father. Laura died alone in a Baltimore hotel room February 27, 1926, leaving the paper for husband Irwin Kirkwood to sell as dictated by Nelson's will. Despite bids from leading newspaper tycoons, including Hearst and Gannett, Kirkwood and Star employees bought the paper to keep it in local hands. Irwin Kirkwood arranged for the Nelson mansion to be razed after his death, and the site donated for an art gallery to house the collection acquired with Nelson trust funds. Irwin Kirkwood died August 29, 1927, and the estates of Mrs. Nelson and the Kirkwoods, along with a $350,000 bequest of Mary Atkins, who had died October 13, 1911, created the Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins Museum, aka Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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