Josephine Porter Boardman

Josephine Porter Boardman Crane (1873 - 1972) was an American socialite and patron of the arts.

Personal life

Boardman was from a well-to-do family. Her father, William Jarvis Boardman (15 April 1832 - 2 August 1915), a lawyer and active in politics, was the grandson of the Senator Elijah Boardman. Her mother, Florence Sheffield, was the granddaughter of Joseph Earl Sheffield, was a major benefactor of Yale University. She had 5 siblings, including Mabel Thorp Boardman. The family moved from Ohio to Washington, D.C. in 1887-8, although they maintained connections to Ohio politics including a friendship with the Taft family.

In 1906, Josephine Boardman married Winthrop Murray Crane, an American millionaire and former governor of Massachusetts, with whom she had three children: Stephen, Bruce, and Louise.

Public Life

Crane was the benefactress of the prestigious Dalton School, which took its name from the location of the Crane family estate, "Sugar Hill", in Dalton, Massachusetts. She was the original sponsor for implementing the Dalton Plan in 1920cite book |last=Parkhurst |first=Helen |authorlink=Helen Parkhurst |title=Education On The Dalton Plan |url=http://www.archive.org/details/educationontheda028244mbp |accessdate=2007-12-01 |year=1922 |publisher=E. P. Dutton & Company |location=New York |pages=pp. 15–16] , a much-copied experiment in education.

She moved to New York City after the death of her husband in 1922. There, Josephine Crane was a founder of the Museum of Modern Art and was elected to the Board of Trustees in October 1929.

Mrs. Crane was the hostess of a weekly literary salon at her apartment at 820 Fifth Avenue.

The Josephine B. Crane Foundation continues to support the Sierra Club, scientific research and various scholarships.

Published Work

* Crane, Boardman Jospehine. "A Middle-west Child" New York: Spiral Press (1971)

Donations

* [http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=11&viewmode=1&item=69.280.4] Gift of Mrs. W. Murray Crane, 1969
* [http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/costume/object.cfm?recordnumber=365574] Mrs. Crane donated a number of items from her sister's (Mrs. Frederick Keep) estate to the Smithsonian Institution. Exhibited in the Hall of American Costume from 1964 to 1973.
* [http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3ACL%3AI%3A10&page_number=37&template_id=1&sort_order=1] Sculpture gift of Mrs. W. Murray Crane.

References