Abby Aldrich Rockefeller: The Woman in the Family - Softcover

Kert, Bernice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812970446 ISBN 13: 9780812970449

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003

Synopsis

The riveting portrait of the woman who transformed
the character of one of America’s most powerful families—
available in paperback for the first time, with a new Introduction by David Rockefeller

In 1894, Abby Aldrich, the buoyant, impulsive daughter of Rhode Island’s Senator Nelson Aldrich, met John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the deeply reserved heir to the Standard Oil fortune. This unlikely pair fell in love, but it was seven years before John felt confident enough to propose. Once married, Abby used her empathy, willingness to experiment, and defiant optimism to leaven John’s narrow, bureaucratic way of thinking. She expanded his vision of what the Rockefeller fortune could do, shaping the family into the progressive force in philanthropy, the arts, and politics that we know today.

Drawing on letters, diaries, and revealing interviews with family members and others, Bernice Kert has created a portrait of this vibrant woman that is both epic and intimate, moving seamlessly from the intricacies of her home life, to her work in larger arenas, to her crowning achievement—founding what eventually became the Museum of Modern Art.

About this title

Review:

Nelson's beloved mother (1874-1948) was just as fascinating as he, though considerably less driven. Abby Aldrich's relaxed, worldly attitude differed markedly from the rigid Baptist views of the Rockefellers. Yet she handled her in-laws with aplomb, and her shy, reserved husband, John D. Jr., adored her. While keeping him happy, she pursued her own interests as a pioneering champion of both modern and folk art, helping to found the Museum of Modern Art in 1929. Kert's elegant, perceptive biography does full justice to a warm-hearted, lovable woman.

From the Back Cover:

“[An] engrossing, psychologically perceptive portrait...absorbing reading.”
—USA Today

“Kert’s penetrating close-up captures not only a remarkable personality but the suffocating nuances of post-Victorian matrimony....[Readers] will relish Abby’s refusal to be pigeonholed....Kert has had the good judgment to explore the family correspondence—and the good fortune to strike gold there.”
—Los Angeles Times

“Well-wrought...Kert, despite all her exhaustive research, happily lets her subject retain all of her formidable vitality and independence....A splendidly intelligent, very readable portrait of a woman who was as wise in the rearing of her family as in the spending of her great wealth.”
—Kirkus Reviews

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0812970446
• ISBN 13: 9780812970449
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 568