Anna G. Vietor, 88, Was New York Philanthropist
Anna Glen Butler Vietor, beloved mother, grandmother andgreat-grandmother and longtime seasonal resident of Edgartown, died ather home in New York city Tuesday, Dec. 20, after a short illness. Shewas 88.
Mrs. Vietor first came to Martha's Vineyard after marryingAlexander O. Vietor of Edgartown and New York city in 1939. From thatpoint on she spent more than 65 summers on the Vineyard, developing adeep fondness for the Island and becoming intimately involved in thecommunity; she supported numerous Island institutions, among them theMartha's Vineyard Hospital and the Martha's VineyardHistorical Society. A longtime member of the Edgartown Yacht Club, shewas deeply involved in all of the club's activities.
Nothing gave her more pleasure than to be on the Vineyard,surrounded by as many friends and family as possible. Like the whalingwives of old, she would wait patiently for her family to return homefrom their adventures on the Island's waters. She was a memberalso of the New York Yacht Club as well as a founder of New YorkClub's station Harbour Court in Newport.
A descendant of several of New York's oldest families, Mrs.Vietor was a noted philanthropist, with a particular interest inhistory, education, culture and beautification.
Born in 1917 in New York, Mrs. Vietor was the daughter of the lateArthur Wellman Butler, a vice president of the New York Stock Exchange,and the late Anna Robinson Butler, whose father, Dr. Beverley Robinson,founded St. Luke's Hospital in New York. She was predeceased byher husband, Alexander Orr Vietor, who was the curator of maps at YaleUniversity, and by her daughter, Barbara Foster Vietor.
Mrs. Vietor grew up in New York city and was a member of the classof 1935 at Miss Chapin's School. She spent weekends on the familyproperty in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., which has been preserved by The NatureConservancy as the Butler Sanctuary. During her early years, Mrs. Vietortraveled all over the world with her parents, which included trips onmost of the great oceanliners. As a result of those experiences, shedeveloped a lifelong interest in promoting the history of the port ofNew York and became a founder of the Ocean Liner Museum. In 1937, Mrs.Vietor was presented at court to King George VI and Queen Mary.
In 1941, Mrs. Vietor and her husband moved to New Haven, Conn.,where she raised seven children. After the death of her daughter,Barbara, she and her husband established a planting fund in her memoryat Yale; they created a memorial garden adjoining Yale's SterlingLibrary and supported the planting of spring flowering trees, shrubs andbulbs throughout the Yale campus. She also created a tulip walk for theNew York Botanical Garden, and funded the planting of tulips in theCentral Park Conservancy Garden and the Park avenue malls in memory ofher daughter.
She was devoted to her family, and was well known for her energy,generosity, zest for life and love of travel. In addition to organizingendless family activities and trips, she became an active volunteer forinstitutions such as the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the Foote Schooland the New Haven Garden Club, for which she established the CivicPlanting Fund.
In 1978 she and her husband returned to New York. Upon his death in1981, Mrs. Vietor turned her attention to The Acorn Foundation, thefamily foundation for which she served as president. During the next 24years she worked with a wide variety of organizations and became one ofNew York's most active philanthropists.
A descendant of Peyton Randolph, president of the first ContinentalCongress, and Edmund Randolph, General George Washington'saide-de-camp and the first U.S. Attorney General, she had a passion forhistory, and supported patriotic societies such as the Colonial Dames ofAmerica, the National Society of Colonial Dames and the Daughters of theCincinnati.
She also supported historical and cultural organizations such as theHenry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Del., HistoricDeerfield, Colonial Williamsburg, the Fine Arts Collection at theDepartment of State, the Metropolitan Opera and the Metropolitan Museumof Art.
Because her great-grandfather, Charles H. Marshall, co-founded in1818 the Black Ball Line, the first packet ship line that sailed acrossthe Atlantic on a regular schedule, she had a particular interest inmaritime institutions. For example, she supported the South StreetSeaport Museum, the Seaman's Church Institute, the Mystic SeaportMuseum and the Peabody and Essex Museum in Salem, to which herhusband's extensive collection of pre-1815 portraits of Americanships were donated.
She was also very interested in institutions associated with thehistory of New York, such as the Museum of the City of New York, the NewYork Historical Society, Historic Hudson Valley and the Genealogical andBiographical Society. She continued her lifelong interest in gardeningby supporting floral planting throughout New York city and its environs.
Since Mrs. Vietor's ancestral roots extended to pre-ColonialAmerica, she focused many of her efforts on promoting the pre-ColonialDutch period, which included serving as directress-general of theSociety of Daughters of Holland Dames. She actively supported the HalfMoon Project of the New Netherlands Museum, and produced anaward-winning documentary entitled Under Two Flags that highlightedearly Dutch and English history in the New World. In 1997, inrecognition of her work in promoting and strengthening the historicalbond between the United States and the Netherlands, Mrs. Vietor wasawarded the Order of the Orange-Nassau by Queen Beatrix of theNetherlands. She is one of the few foreigners to have received thathonor.
In addition to the 1998 Telly Award given to Under Two Flags,several other of the eight historical documentaries produced by theAcorn Foundation won awards, including the 2000 Technical AchievementAward for Washington in New York: From Disaster to Triumph, and theSilver Bell Award for New York is a Tall Ship from the Seaman'sChurch Institute. Because of her devotion to history and education, shedonated the videos to schools and colleges all over the country, as wellas to teachers and nonprofit institutions. She also established apartnership with the European-American Bank and Glencoe-McGraw-Hill tocreate and distribute a middle school curriculum designed to teachstudents about the history of New York.
Her education and outreach efforts included a luncheon lectureseries called History Sandwiched In that gave historians and otherwell-known individuals an opportunity to speak about a variety oftopics. Speakers included Jay Iselin, former head of Channel 13, theauthor and classical architectural authority Henry Hope Reed, and NewYork's former parks commissioner, Henry Stern, who bestowed uponher the park moniker Grand Tulip.
Mrs. Vietor's many accomplishments illustrated the power ofher determination, enthusiasm and charm, and she was honored on numerousoccasions. In 1996 she was given the National Society of Daughters ofFounders and Patriots of America Award for "her genealogical,biographical and educational contributions to the history ofAmerica." In 2000 she was named New York Volunteer of the Year bythe Conference of Patriotic and Historic Societies that saluted her for"exemplifying the finest tradition of volunteerism andphilanthropy." Also in 2001 the Council of the City of New Yorkissued a proclamation stating that she was a "great philanthropistand friend to the people of New York." In March 2003 she was askedby the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell on the occasionof the 350th anniversary of Wall street. She has also received theFrederick Law Olmsted Medal from the Central Park Conservancy and theEdith Wharton Women of Achievement in Philanthropy Award.
Mrs. Vietor was a longstanding member of the Colony Club and heldvarious leadership roles. She was also a member of the Union Club andthe Yale Club, and belonged to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.
She touched the lives of both the young and the old, and enjoyedlife to the fullest. She was a role model for her friends and family,who will greatly miss her guidance and support. She is survived by herchildren, David B. Vietor of Edgartown, Richard R. Vietor of New Yorkcity, Anna Louise Vietor Oliver of Washington, D.C., Pauline VietorSheehan of New York, Alexander W. Vietor of Rye, N.Y., and Martha VietorGlass of New York city, as well as by her 23 grandchildren and 14great-grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at St. Bartholomew's Church inNew York city on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, thefamily has established the Anna Glen Butler Vietor Memorial Fund at TheNew York Community Trust. Contributions may be made to Community Funds,Inc. for the A.G.B. Vietor Fund, 909 Third avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022.
