It wasn’t easy being Edith Rockefeller McCormick.
Born Aug. 31, 1872 (happy birthday, Edith!) as the daughter of Laura Spelman and John D. Rockefeller, her childhood was spent coming to grips with the fact that her family was hated. Though innocent of John D.’s ruthless business maneuvers, Edith and her siblings felt the brunt of public disapproval through death threats, front-page editorial cartoons, and harsh magazine tell-alls. Fear was part and parcel of growing up Rockefeller.
When Edith married Harold Fowler McCormick, son of Cyrus McCormick, the Reaper King, it was rumored she would become the country’s richest woman: princess of Standard Oil weds prince of McCormick Reaper. It sure seemed like a handy business connection. But she married for love and her feelings for Harold never waned, despite the calamities the couple faced.
and Harold McCormick
The power couple settled at 1000 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago where Harold rose in the ranks of what became International Harvester and Edith presided as the city’s grande dame. Wearing Catherine the Great’s jewels and sitting in chairs once belonging to Napoleon, Edith set the hospitality bar high. She was determined to elevate the cultural life of Chicago, a city built on stockyards and steel. Edith helped establish a grand opera company, underwrote composers, supported community theater, and started Brookfield Zoo.
Money couldn’t shield the McCormicks from tragedy. Two of their five children died young and these losses, in addition to the high-octane social pressures Edith faced, caused her to seek treatment with a yet-unknown Carl Jung in Zurich. She intended to go for a few months but ended up staying eight years; her generous support turned Jung into a household name. While there, she underwrote a young James Joyce as he penned Ulysses.
When she finally returned to Chicago, her marriage was over. Harold had fallen in love with a mediocre opera singer (inspiring the love triangle in Citizen Kane) and insisted on a divorce, assembling a powerhouse legal team that included Clarence Darrow. The resulting settlement, which included Edith buying out Harold’s half of both their homes (1000 LSD plus a summer home in Lake Forest), would be a heavy financial burden for the rest of her life.
She tried her hand at real estate, fronting a wildly successful firm for a few years before the market slowed and then crashed in 1929. Edith was left to try to sell off her jewels and homes in an effort to stay afloat. Miffed that she had ignored his business advice, her father deliberately chose not to come to her rescue.
No, it wasn’t easy being Edith, the family black sheep. Despite her successes, her philanthropy, and her intellectual prowess, the powerful men around her tried to restrict her to a traditional feminine role. It is believed that after her 1932 death from breast cancer, her brother and ex-husband burned her papers, erasing her unique voice.
Only now, when history’s forgotten women are finally beginning to have their stories told, can we begin to see Edith’s full picture. While unconventional and uncompromising, Edith was a brilliant woman whose contributions to Chicago continue to touch many lives.
Written by Andrea Friederici Ross, author of the new biography Edith: The Rogue Rockefeller McCormick (Southern Illinois University Press), now available from your local bookstore and on Amazon. You can also order the book directly and save 20 percent with coupon code SIUP20: http://siupress.com/books/978-0-8093-3790-3.