Ethel Sperry Crocker (1861–1934) was an American philanthropist and art patron. In her day, she was the leading patron of French

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Biography

Ethel Willard Sperry was born in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

, in 1861. Her parents were Simon Willard Sperry and Caroline Elizabeth (''née'' Barker) Sperry, from

, and sister to Elizabeth Helen Sperry (wife of Prince

André Poniatowski Prince Louis Léopold Charles Marie ''André'' Poniatowski (24 January 1864 – 8 March 1954), was a Polish nobleman, member of the Poniatowski, House of Poniatowski who became a prominent French financier and industrialist. Early life Prince And ...

). On October 6, 1886, she married

William Henry Crocker William Henry Crocker I (January 13, 1861 – September 25, 1937) was a member of the wealthy Crocker family and a prominent member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Over the course of his business career, he became the pr ...

, a member of the wealthy

Crocker family The Crocker family was a wealthy American family based in California. Its fortune was primarily earned through the entrepreneurship of Charles Crocker, a tycoon who co-founded the Central Pacific Railroad and acquired a controlling interest in t ...

and a prominent member of the Republican Party. Over the course of his business career, he became the president of

Crocker National Bank Crocker National Bank was an American bank headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was acquired by and merged into Wells Fargo Bank in 1986. History The bank traces its history to the Woolworth National Bank in San Francisco. Charles ...

. Ethel and other family members owned the Sperry Flour Company, which was heavily invested in the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

humanitarian effort by sending its flour across the ocean to aid famine-stricken citizens of Belgium. Encouraged by

Lou Henry Hoover Lou Henry Hoover (March 29, 1874 – January 7, 1944) was an American philanthropist, geologist, and the first lady of the United States from 1929 to 1933 as the wife of President Herbert Hoover. She was active in community organizations and v ...

, wife of the later

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

, Crocker became treasurer of the Woman's "Belgian Relief Fund" in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and State Chair for the Woman's Section of the

Commission for Relief in Belgium The Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB, or simply Belgian Relief) was an international, predominantly American, organization that arranged for the supply of food to German-occupied Belgium and northern France during the First World War. It ...

(CRB). On another level, Crocker was the leading patron of French

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

art in California at that time. In the 1890s, Crocker and California Impressionist Lucy Bacon lent William Kingston Vickery, owner of the San Francisco art gallery Vickery, Atkins & Torrey, several French Impressionist paintings. Vickery then supervised a series of these loan exhibitions in San Francisco and introduced

to California in the form of paintings by

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

Eugène Boudin Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 1824 – 8 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

, and

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings. Degas is e ...

. Crocker also sponsored the studies of the

Zoellner Quartet The Zoellner Quartet was a string quartet active during the first quarter of the 20th century. It was once described as "the most celebrated musical organization in the West which devotes its energies exclusively to the highest class of cham ...

with

César Thomson César Thomson (18 March 1857 – 21 August 1931) was a Belgian violinist, teacher, and composer. Biography He was born in Liège in 1857. At age seven, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Liège, and studied under Désiré Heynberg, Rodolp ...

in Belgium.Cariaga, Daniel, "Not Taking It with You: A Tale of Two Estates", ''Los Angeles Times''
December 22, 1985, accessed April 2012.

Personal life

Ethel and William were the parents of four children: * Ethel Mary Crocker (1891–1964) married in 1918 French Count André de Limur (who became an American citizen in 1942 and joined the US Army), who gave William and Ethel their first granddaughter. * William Willard Crocker (1893–1964) married Ruth Hobart, daughter of playboy Walter Hobart and granddaughter of the Comstock silver millionaire Walter S. Hobart, in 1923. They divorced in 1948 and he married Gertrude ( Hopkins) Parrott, former wife of William G. Parrott. After her death in 1958, he married Elizabeth ( Fullerton) Coleman, former wife of George L. Coleman, in 1960. * Helen Crocker (1897–1966) married Henry Potter Russell, the son of Charles Howland Russell who had previously married

Ethel Borden Ethel Borden Harriman (December 11, 1897July 4, 1953) was an American heiress, actress, and author who worked as a screenwriter at MGM and RKO during the 1930s. Early life Ethel Harriman was born into a wealthy New York family in 1897. Her fa ...

. * Charles Crocker (1904–1961) married Virginia Bennett in 1926. They divorced and he married Marguerite Brokaw, a daughter of Howard Crosby Brokaw, in 1938. She was a member of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

. Ethel Sperry Crocker died in

Hillsborough, California Hillsborough is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is located south of San Francisco on the San Francisco Peninsula, bordered by Burlinga ...

, on July 21, 1934.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Ethel Sperry 1861 births 1934 deaths Philanthropists from California People from Stockton, California Daughters of the American Revolution people American art patrons Crocker family

Biography

Personal life

See also

References