Good Afternoon,
On this lovely Sunday afternoon I would like to present my
first post on this blog as one of the Key Room Curators for this summer. My
name is Jake and I am from Illinois. I just graduated from college with two
bachelor’s degrees in History and Political Science. This summer I and my
fellow curators will be bringing you a look into some of the unique keys that
we have here in our collection.
My first key I would like to present as my portion of this
blog is the Edith Rockefeller-McCormick Key. This family of course has a long
history and I would like to take a moment to give a brief background of them.
As many may know the Rockefeller family was very wealthy, due to the founding
of Standard Oil by Edith’s father, John Davidson Rockefeller. She was born the
fifth child and the fourth daughter of John Davidson Rockefeller and a
schoolteacher named Laura Spelman. There is rumor for there to have been some
tension between Edith and her father due to her extravagance and her father’s
desire to be frugal with the money he earned. She then married the heir to the
mechanical reaper fortune, Harold Fowler McCormick at the age of 23. After this
marriage, she then began to spend money even more freely in her new home of
Chicago without the watchful eye of her father. While this marriage was not to last
(ending in 1921), it threw Edith even more so into the public spotlight as a
philanthropist and also an activist.
This particular key was given to us after her death in 1932
by Gertrude M. Moore, the manager of a women’s club that Edith Rockefeller-McCormick
was a member of during her time in Chicago. Gertrude M. Moore had originally
intended to send us this key directly after the death of Edith Rockefeller-
McCormick but unfortunately it was misplaced for nearly fourteen years until it
was sent with a letter explaining the situation on October 19th,
1946.
This key is one of many here at the Baldpate Inn that has a
very rich history and I and my fellow curators will be expanding upon many
others this summer. Until next time my fellow historians, may you continue to
grow in your knowledge of history as I hope to do.
Jake
Key Room Museum Curator
