Flora Miller Biddle (born 1928) is an American author, honorary chairman, and former president of the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

, serving from 1977 to 1995. She is the granddaughter of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the founder of the Whitney Museum.

Biography

Biddle was born to

Flora Payne Whitney Flora Payne Whitney, also known as Flora Whitney Miller (July 27, 1897 – July 18, 1986), was an American artist and socialite, art collector, and patron of the arts. Early life Flora Payne Whitney was born on July 27, 1897 and raised in Manhatt ...

, the daughter of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and

Harry Payne Whitney Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family. Early years Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as the eldest son ...

. Through her mother's side she is a great-great-granddaughter of Commodore

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

and father's side granddaughter of

William Collins Whitney William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent descendant of the John Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Clev ...

, former

United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States D ...

in the

Cleveland administration Grover Cleveland was the president of the United States first from March 4, 1885, to March 4, 1889, and then from March 4, 1893, to March 4, 1897. The first Democrat elected after the Civil War, Cleveland is the only US president to leave office a ...

and a descendant of

Eli Whitney Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Although Whitney hi ...

, inventor of the

Cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

. She attended

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

but dropped out in 1947 to marry Michael Henry Irving (1923-2003), a Harvard graduate who served in the Navy. He later received a degree from

Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) is the architecture school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. It is regarded as an important and highly prestigious architecture school.

and became an architect. Irving was the son of Carolyn Mann Irving (1891-1987) and Evelyn duPont Irving (1886-1968), a nephew of

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

and descendant of

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (; ; 24 June 1771 – 31 October 1834) was a French-American chemist and industrialist who founded the gunpowder manufacturer E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. His descendants, the du Pont family, have ...

, founder of the

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

company. They married in June 1947 and had four children. She became a museum trustee in 1958 and president of the Whitney in 1977. During her tenure as president of the Whitney Museum, she worked closely with director

Thomas N. Armstrong III Thomas N. Armstrong III (July 30, 1932, Portsmouth, Virginia – June 20, 2011, Manhattan) was an American museum curator who was director emeritus of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum (1968–1971), the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ...

to expand the museum's modern art collection and was responsible for the fundraising. Biddle once rode in the trunk of a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus elephant on

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

in a nationally publicized stunt to help acquire ''

Cirque Calder ''Cirque Calder'' is an artistic rendering of a circus created by the American artist Alexander Calder. It involves wire models rigged to perform the various functions of the circus performers they represent, from contortionists to sword eaters to ...

'' into the museum's permanent collection''.'' She also oversaw the moving of the museum into the Marcel Breuer-designed structure on 945 Madison Avenue in the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

. Biddle obtained her degree from Manhattanville College in 1978. From 1980 to 1990, she served on the New York City Art Commission. She divorced Irving in 1979 and married Sydney Francis Biddle (1918-2004), a lawyer turned artist trained at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

and Columbia Law School. Biddle was a member of the

Biddle family The Biddle family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an Old Philadelphian family descended from English immigrants William Biddle (1630–1712) and Sarah Kempe (1634–1709), who arrived in the Province of New Jersey in 1681. Quakers, they had emig ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and a nephew of Francis Biddle, who was

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the main American judge during the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

. She stepped down as president and chairman during the mid-1990s. Her daughter, Fiona Donovan, a

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

-trained art historian, served as trustee until 2003. Donovan was brought back to the board in 2014 by director Adam D. Weinberg. Biddle's granddaughters, fifth-generation members of the Whitney family, Flora Donovan and Flora Irving, were also made trustees of the Whitney in the same year.

Bibliography

* ''The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made: A Family Memoir'', Arcade Publishing, 1999 * ''Embers of Childhood: Growing Up a Whitney'', Arcade Publishing, 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biddle, Flora Miller 1928 births Vanderbilt family Whitney family Du Pont family Biddle family Barnard College alumni Manhattanville College alumni American art patrons Living people