1. Rebekah West Harkness known as Betty Harkness, was an American composer, socialite, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist who founded the Harkness Ballet.
13 Facts About Rebekah Harkness
1. 2.
Rebekah Harkness Semple West was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1915.
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Rebekah Harkness's grandfather founded the St Louis Union Trust Company.
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Rebekah Harkness took up dancing and ice skating to lose weight and was highly disciplined in both endeavors.
5.
Rebekah Harkness attended the Rossman School and John Burroughs School in St Louis, and then the Fermata School for Girls in Aiken, South Carolina, from which she graduated in 1932.
6.
Rebekah Harkness was friends with a young Potter Stewart, whom she affectionately called "Potsie," and their relationship was written about by her biographer Craig Unger.
7.
Rebekah Harkness would continue to study dance and piano, and studied ballet with Victoria Cassu, who was a student of Anna Pavlova.
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Rebekah Harkness studied orchestration with Lee Hoiby and received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire, in 1968.
9.
Rebekah Harkness soon became the owner of a vast number of properties, and indulged in many luxuries.
10.
Rebekah Harkness used much of her inheritance to become a patron of the ballet, as well as to compose music.
11.
Rebekah Harkness later donated $2 million to the William Hale Rebekah Harkness Medical Research Building at the New York Hospital and supported medical research on Parkinson's disease.
12.
On June 10,1939, Harkness married Dickson W Pierce, the son of Thomas M Pierce.
13.
Rebekah Harkness died of stomach cancer in her Manhattan home on June 17,1982 at the age of 67.