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Marjorie Merriweather Post: Society and Social Change\Philanthropist
Marjorie Merriweather Post: Society and Social Change\Socialite
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Francis A. DiMauro
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.2011.92
Exhibition Label
Born Springfield, Illinois
Within fifteen years of inheriting her father’s Postum Cereal Company in 1914, Marjorie Merriweather Post transformed that business into the giant General Foods Corporation. Aided in this effort by her stockbroker-husband E. F. Hutton, who took the company public in 1922, Post demonstrated her own business savvy by moving the business into the nascent frozen food industry with her acquisition of Clarence Birdseye’s company in 1929. She subsequently served on General Foods’ board of directors from 1936 until 1958. Renowned for her luxurious lifestyle and her extraordinary collection of Russian Imperial art, Post was also a philanthropist, giving considerable sums to the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, the Boy Scouts, and other causes.
In June 1929, Post was presented at the court of Britain’s King George V and Queen Mary. She posed for this photograph wearing the gown in which she was received at Buckingham Palace.
Nacida en Springfield, Illinois
En 1914 Marjorie Merriweather Post heredó de su padre la Postum Cereal Company y quince años después la había transformado en la gigantesca General Foods Corporation. Con ayuda de su esposo, el corredor de valores E. F. Hutton, quien llevó a la compañía a cotizar en bolsa en 1922, Post demostró sus propias capacidades empresariales al incursionar en la naciente industria de alimentos congelados con la compra del negocio de Clarence Birdseye en 1929. Desde 1936 hasta 1958, Post perteneció a la junta de directores de General Foods. Famosa por su estilo de vida suntuoso y su extraordinaria colección de arte imperial ruso, Post fue también filántropa, y donó grandes sumas a causas como el Ejército de Salvación, la Cruz Roja y los Niños Exploradores.
En junio de 1929, Post fue presentada en la corte de los reyes Jorge V y María de Inglaterra. En esta fotografía posó con el vestido que había llevado al palacio de Buckingham.
