Blanche Ebert Seaver (September 15, 1891–April 9, 1994) was an American philanthropist and musician.

Early life and marriage

Born Blanche Ebert on September 15, 1891, she was the tenth child of Norwegian immigrants to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Her musical talent was evident from a young age, and she graduated from the Chicago Music School in 1911. She would go on to write and arrange music for Irish tenor John McCormack and for the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

under the direction of

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

. In 1916, she married

Frank Seaver Frank Roger Seaver (April 12, 1883–30 October 1964) was an American lawyer, Naval officer, oil executive, and philanthropist. Early life Frank Seaver grew up in Claremont, California, graduating from Pomona College in 1905, where he managed the ...

, a lawyer who had helped draft the first charter for

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

. He went on to make a fortune manufacturing oil drilling equipment first for Edward L. Doheny and later for his own Hydril Company.

Philanthropy

The Seavers were generous philanthropists, founding an orphanage in

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in the 1920s, and donating to the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and the

Los Angeles Music Center The Los Angeles Music Center (officially the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pa ...

, in addition to other musical organizations. Blanche served on the board of several organizations, including

Children's Hospital Los Angeles Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care Pediatrics, children's hospital in the East Hollywood, Los Angeles, East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, on Sunset Boulevard at the corner of Vermont Avenue ...

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

, and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. Following Frank's death in 1964, Blanche became a benefactor of the young George Pepperdine College in South Central Los Angeles, which, due in large part to her donations, opened a campus in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

and was renamed

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

in 1971. In 1975, the liberal arts college at Pepperdine was named Seaver College in memory of Frank and in honor of Blanche's gifts. In all, her friendship with Pepperdine president William S. Banowsky led to more than $160 million in donations to Pepperdine, and she served on the university's board of regents until her death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seaver, Blanche Pepperdine University people 1891 births 1994 deaths Pomona College trustees 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American academics