Il 10 giugno 1939, Harkness sposò Dickson W. Pierce, figlio di Thomas M. Pierce e discendente di Franklin Pierce, 14º presidente degli Stati Uniti. The Harknesses were married for a brief period—just seven years. Harkness died of cancer in 1982 in New York City. "The Last Great American Dynasty" tells the story of Rebekah Harkness, the socialite who used to live in Swift's Rhode Island mansion. [citation needed], In 1961, Harkness married Ben Kean (c. 1912–1993),[13] a physician who was a professor of Tropical Medicine at the Cornell Medical College. Miss Edith H. Harkness Wed To Kenneth Mckinnon, Lawyer, Benjamin H. Kean, Shah's Physician, Dies at 81. [9][10], Later in life, she studied in Fontainebleau, France, with Nadia Boulanger, at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva, and the Mannes College of Music, New York. In precedenza era sposato con Elisabeth Grant. Her daughter Terry gave birth to a child who died at age 10. Swift bought her "Holiday House" in 2013 for $17 million. [1] Before their divorce in 1946, they had two children; Allen Pierce (b. Thomson Asks States to Sue the U.S. Out of Prison, Doctor Hopes to Regenerate His Lost Fame, Rebekah West Harkness, 67, Patron of Dance and Medicine, Taylor Swift is buying into a rich Watch Hill tradition, Who Is Rebekah Harkness? The two purchased a mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, which they nicknamed Holiday House. (No such record could be found, but the famous Surrealist artist did design the $250,000 jewel-studded urn that held her ashes. Thomson Asks States to Sue the U.S.", "Out of Prison, Doctor Hopes to Regenerate His Lost Fame", "Taylor Swift is buying into a rich Watch Hill tradition", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rebekah_Harkness&oldid=983810624, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 16 October 2020, at 11:13. The book is available for purchase on Amazon for $195, but a May 1988 New York Times review by the late journalist Barbara Grizzuti Harrison clues us into the reported inner world of Harkness as published in the book. He and his step-brother, Henry Flagler, and John D. Rockefeller invested heavily in Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler, the corporate forerunner to Standard Oil. [11], La villa "Holiday House" di Harkness a Watch Hill, Rhode Island, è stata acquisita nel 2013 dalla cantante Taylor Swift. This week, Taylor Swift showed the world what she’s been working on during quarantine: a new album, Folklore, which the singer-songwriter released late Thursday evening. [2] Her ashes were placed in a $250,000 urn designed by Salvador Dalí, then placed in the Harkness Mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery. [13][14], Anne Pierce, 1962 Debutante, Married to Anthony McBride, The Humble Beginnings Of an Elegant Mansion. Questa pagina è stata modificata per l'ultima volta il 25 ago 2020 alle 11:08. [citation needed], In 1974, she married Niels H. Lauersen, another physician, who was 20 years her junior. A 1955 article from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that one of her works would be premiering at Carnegie Hall in New York City.) William Hale died of a heart attack in 1954. Copyright 2020 SLM Media Group. Her son, Allen Pierce, was convicted of murder. She was 67.) But the book also states Harkness was "brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had worked in an insane asylum." It was built in 1930 and features … She lost card game bets with Salvador Dalí. She blew through her fortune “on the boys and the ballet.” (Harkness was an avid patron of the arts and founded her own company, Harkness Ballet. [18], "Anne Pierce, 1962 Debutante, Married to Anthony McBride", "Rebekah West Harkness, 67, Patron of Dance and Medicine", "Harkness Ballet Takes the Bid Step to Broadway", "Patrician of the Dance; Rebekah West Harkness", "The Dance: Rebekah Harkness Ballet Goes Dutch; Madrigalesco' Given American Premiere 3 Other Works Offered as Troupe Returns", "Harkness House Opened as Home For Ballet Arts; Lynda Johnson Attends -- City s Medal Given To Woman Donor", "The Humble Beginnings Of an Elegant Mansion", "Miss Edith H. Harkness Wed To Kenneth Mckinnon, Lawyer", "Benjamin H. Kean, Shah's Physician, Dies at 81", "Notes on People; Gov. Harkness became the second-largest shareholder, which made him extremely wealthy. She also studied orchestration with Lee Hoiby and received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire, in 1968. [2] Raised primarily by nannies, Harkness took up dancing and ice skating to lose weight and was highly disciplined in both endeavors. [3], In the 1960s, Harkness became well known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts. Folklore, Taylor Swift's latest album, is officially out, which means it's time to close-read the lyrics and find the hidden meaning. [4] Prima della sua morte, nell'agosto 1954, ebbero una figlia insieme:[5] Edith Hale Harkness (1948–1982).[6]. P.O. Taylor Swift Compares Herself to Late Composer in Song on New Album, REVEALED: Tragic socialite who inspired new Taylor Swift track was heir to Standard Oil fortune who filled the pool with champagne at singer's Rhode Island mansion - and drove her neighbors to distraction with her wild ways, https://it.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rebekah_Harkness&oldid=115114066, Voci biografiche con codici di controllo di autorità, licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione-Condividi allo stesso modo. She filled a pool with Champagne. Notes on People; Gov. In 2020, Swift wrote the song " The Last Great American Dynasty " for her eighth studio album Folklore (2020), in which she tells Harkness' life story. Nel 1974, sposò Niels H. Lauersen, un altro medico. The Holiday House was once owned by Rebekah Harkness The mansion was once owned by Rebekah Harkness, a high profile socialite who famously married into the Standard Oil fortune. She stole a neighbor’s dog and dyed it key lime green. In her day, Harkness was as much of a media darling as Swift is now, and often the target of unfavorable headlines and press coverage. [8] Through the William Hale Harkness Foundation, she sponsored construction of a medical research building at the New York Hospital and supported a number of medical research projects. Stephen Vanderburgh Harkness was a progenitor of the extended Harkness family. Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train, it was sunny / Her saltbox house on the coast took her mind off St. Louis / Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name and money / And the town said / “How did a middle-class divorcée do it?” / The wedding was charming, if a little gauche / There’s only so far new money goes / They picked out a home and called it “Holiday House” / Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud / The doctor had told him to settle down / It must have been her fault his heart gave out, And they said / There goes the last great American dynasty / Who knows, if she never showed up, what could’ve been / There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen / She had a marvelous time ruining everything. Watch the video for "The Last Great American Dynasty": Woytus is St. Louis Magazine's deputy editor. Harkness inherited her late husband's Watch Hill, Rhode Island, manse, which was known by friends, family, and distinguished celebrity guests—think Howard Hughes and Salvador Dalí—as the Holiday House. First, a brief biography: Born Rebekah Semple West in St. Louis in 1915, Harkness was a divorcée whose second marriage was to Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness. [17] In 2020, Swift wrote the song "The Last Great American Dynasty" for her eighth studio album Folklore (2020), in which she tells Harkness' life story. Holiday House is one of Taylor Swift’s many homes, and it encompasses 11,000 square feet and sits on 5.23 acres. She was also a composer. [1] Prima del divorzio, avvenuto nel 1946, ebbero due figli:[2] Allen Pierce (1940) e Anne Terry Pierce (1944). [citation needed], On October 1, 1947, Harkness married William Hale Harkness (1900–1954), the son of William Lamon Harkness, both Standard Oil heirs. [14] They divorced in 1977. Harkness was a silent partner, though he served on Standard Oil's Board of Directors until his 1888 death. (The music site NME is praising the tune as "a contender for the best Taylor Swift song ever written"; you can watch the official lyric video below.) (Allegedly, it was a cat if it matters.). The 16-track album, Swift’s eighth, features a song titled “The Last Great American Dynasty,” about the late St. Louis–born socialite Rebekah West Harkness, whom Swift paints as an eccentric. [3], Il 1º ottobre 1947, sposò William Hale Harkness (1900-1954), figlio di William Lamon Harkness, entrambi eredi della Standard Oil. Rebekah West Harkness, nota anche come Betty Harkness (Saint Louis, 17 aprile 1915 – Manhattan, 17 giugno 1982), è stata una compositore, scultrice e filantropa statunitense nota per aver fondato il Harkness Ballet. Nel 2020 Swift ha scritto la canzone The Last Great American Dynasty, inclusa nell'album Folklore, in cui racconta la storia di Rebekah Harkness. Upon the album’s release, much of the Internet was thrown into a “Who Is Rebekah West Harkness?” madness. All rights reserved. The Harknesses were married for a brief period—just seven years. [6] In addition to founding the Harkness Ballet, Harkness launched a ballet school and home for the company called Harkness House,[7] as well as a refurbished 1,250-seat theater, which presented the Harkness Ballet and other dance companies to New York audiences. Rebekah Semple West was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1915. Harrison notes some of the same lighter-hearted factoids about Harkness from Unger’s biography: She was allegedly once kicked off a cruise ship for swimming nude, for example. 1944). [3] Divorziarono nel 1965. She was the second daughter of three children to Allen Tarwater West, a stockbroker and co-founder of G. H. Walker & Co., and Rebekah Cook (née Semple) West. [10] Le sue ceneri furono poste in un'urna da 250.000 dollari progettata da Salvador Dalí, la quale fu collocata nel Mausoleo di Harkness nel cimitero di Woodlawn. Harkness' " Holiday House " in Watch Hill, Rhode Island was acquired in 2013 by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Rebekah West Harkness (April 17, 1915 – June 17, 1982) also known as Betty Harkness, was an American composer, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist who founded the Harkness Ballet. It was also, infuriatingly to the neighbors, a place for the Harkness Ballet dancers to … [4] Through the Rebekah Harkness Foundation, Harkness sponsored Jerome Robbins and the Joffrey Ballet. The Swift connection is that the superstar bought Holiday House for a reported $17 million in 2013. [16], Harkness' "Holiday House" in Watch Hill, Rhode Island was acquired in 2013 by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. BOX 191606
Her marriage to William Hale "Bill" Harkness, an attorney and heir to the Standard Oil fortune of William L. Harkness, made her one of the wealthiest women in America. Harkness was friends with a young Potter Stewart, whom she affectionately called "Potsie," and their relationship was written about by her biographer Craig Unger.