Flora Payne Whitney

Flora Payne Whitney a.k.a. Flora Whitney Miller (July 27, 1897 - July 18, 1986), a wealthy socialite, art collector, and patron of the arts was the eldest daughter of Harry Payne Whitney, the American businessman and member of the prominent Whitney family and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, member of the equally prominent Vanderbilt family.

Flora Whitney Miller was born and grew up at 871 Fifth Avenue in New York City. She attended the Brearley School in New York and Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia, where she met and became close life-long friends with the artist Kay Sage.

On August 4, 1916, at the Payne-Whitney home on Bellevue Avenue and the Cliffs, Newport, R.I., Flora made her debut. At her debutante ball, Flora met Quentin Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt. Not long after, Flora became engaged to Quentin. Tragically, however, before they married, Quentin died in action during World War I when his plane was shot down over France in July 1918.

While attending Columbia University, Flora met Roderick Tower, a stockbroker, and son of U.S. Ambassador to Russia and Germany Charlemagne Tower and married him at St. Bartholomew's Church, New York on April 20, 1920. She gave birth to a daughter Pamela Tower in 1921 and a son Whitney Tower in 1923. They were divorced in France in 1925.

On February 4, 1927, in Cairo, Egypt, Flora married G. Macculloch Miller, the grandson of the founder of the forerunner of the United Hospital Fund, George Macculloch Miller of the Central Trust. Flora had another two children, Flora in 1928 and Leverett in 1931.

Flora Whitney Miller had long worked closely with her mother Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, meeting and befriending many artists, dealers, and art patrons. She helped her mother plan the founding of the Whitney Museum of Art and served on the museum's board, serving as President after her mother's death in 1941 until 1966, and as Chairman from 1966 through 1974.

Sources

"Society Welcomes Miss Flora Whitney", The New York Times (Aug. 5, 1916)

"Flora Whitney Wed to Roderick Tower", The New York Times (Apr. 20, 1920)