Mary Millicent Abigail Rogers (February 1, 1902 - January 1, 1953), better known as Millicent Rogers, was a socialite, fashion icon, and art collector. She was the granddaughter of Standard Oil tycoon Henry Huttleston Rogers, and an heiress to his wealth. Rogers is notable for having been an early supporter and enthusiast of Southwestern-style art and jewelry, and is often credited for its reaching a national and international audience. Later in life, she became an activist, and was among the first celebrities to champion the cause of Native American civil rights. She is still credited today as an influence on major fashion designers.
Early life
Rogers was born February 1, 1902. Her mother was Mary B. Rogers and her father was Henry Huttleston Rogers II, whose father was one of Rockefeller's partners in Standard Oil. She grew up in Manhattan, Tuxedo Park, and Southampton, New York.
When Rogers contracted rheumatic fever as a young child, doctors predicted she would not live past the age of 10. She suffered from poor health for the rest of her life, having multiple heart attacks, bouts with double pneumonia, and a mostly crippled left arm by the time she was 40 years old.
Career
In the 1920s, as a young woman Rogers became well-known on the socialite scene, and photographs of her were often featured in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Newspaper gossip columns, such as the one in the Hearst's New York Journal-American, regularly detailed her personal life. Rogers lived primarily as an expatriate for many years, and remained in Austria until World War II broke out.
In 1947, Rogers retreated to a small adobe home in Taos, New Mexico, which she referred to as Turtle Walk. While living there, she purchased more than 2,000 Native American artifacts. In 1951, Rogers and several prominent friends (including authors Frank Waters, Oliver Lafarge and Lucius Beebe) hired lawyers and visited Washington, D.C. to promote the issue of Indian rights and citizenship. She successfully lobbied for Native American art to be classified as historic, and therefore protected.
Personal life
Rogers was married three times during the course of her life. Her first marriage was in January 1924, when she eloped with Austrian Ludwig von Salm-Hoogstraeten and married in a New York courtroom; she was 20 years old and the groom was 40. An unemployed film actor through most of their short marriage, Salm-Hoogstraten was characterized by The New York Times as "a gold-digging Austrian count" and Time called him "penniless." The couple had one son together, but had legally separated before the boy was born. Their divorce was finalized in April 1927.
- Peter Salm
On November 8, 1927, she married Arturo Peralta-Ramos They were married in the parish house of the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary in Southampton, Long Island, with only Rogers' father and a few friends in attendance. Approving of the marriage, Henry Huddleston Rogers II gave the couple a $500,000 trust fund, with the provision that Peralta-Ramos "lay no future claim to the Rogers fortune, estimated at $40,000,000." The couple had two children together:
- Paul Jaime Peralta-Ramos
- Arturo Henry Peralta-Ramos Jr.
Peralta-Ramos filed for divorce on December 6, 1935, with both parties citing "extreme cruelty". Rogers' third and final husband was Ronald Balcom, an American stockbroker. They were married in Vienna on February 26, 1936, and were divorced in February 1941. They had no children together.
Rogers was romantically linked to a number of notable men throughout her life, including author Roald Dahl, actor Clark Gable, the author Ian Fleming, the Prince of Wales, Prince Serge Obolensky, and an unknown "heir to the Italian throne".
She died in January 1953. Her legal full name at her time of death was Mary Millicent Abigail Rogers.
Legacy
Millicent Rogers Museum
In 1956, the Youngest son Paul Peralta - Ramos founded the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico. The museum houses a large collection of Native American, Hispanic, and Euro-American art, with a specific emphasis on northern New Mexico and Taos pieces. It first opened in a temporary location in the mid-1950s, later moving to its permanent location in the late 1960s, a home built by Claude J. K. and Elizabeth Anderson. It was later remodeled and expanded by architect Nathaniel A. Owings.
Fashion
Fashion designer John Galliano credited Rogers as an influence on his Spring 2010 Dior collection.
References
Further reading
- Burns, Cherie (2011). Searching for Beauty : The Life of Millicent Rogers. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312547240.Â
- Burns, Cherie (September 17, 2011). "Thoroughly Marvelous Millie". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2015-06-27.Â
- Hoffman, Jill. "Millicent Rogers". MillicentRogers.org. Millicent Rogers Museum. Retrieved 2015-06-27. Essay by former MRM director.
- Morris, Roger (1993). "Millicent Rogers' New Mexico Legacy". Architectural Digest. 50 (6).Â
- Tisdale, Shelby Jo-Anne; Addison, Doty; Millicent Rogers Museum (2006). Fine Indian Jewelry of the Southwest : The Millicent Rogers Museum Collection. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press. ISBN 9780890134825.Â
- West, Beverly. "Millicent Rogers: collector / artists of lifestyle". More Than Petticoats. Remarkable New Mexico Women. Guilford, Conn.: TwoDot. ISBNÂ 9780762712229.Â
External links
- Millicent Rogers Museum official website
- American women of style : an exhibition / organized by Diana Vreeland
- Millicent Rogers at Find a Grave
