Margaret Phipps Boegner

Margaret Phipps Boegner (November 17, 1906 – September 16, 2006) (a.k.a. "Peggy") was an American heiress and philanthropist.

Margaret Phipps Boegner
Born(1906-11-17)November 17, 1906
DiedSeptember 16, 2006(2006-09-16) (aged 99)
NationalityAmerican
Occupationphilanthropist
Spouse(s)J. Gordon Douglas Jr.
Etienne Boegner
ChildrenJ. Gordon Douglas III
Dita Douglas Naylor-Leyland
Parent(s)John Shaffer Phipps
Margarita Celia Grace

Biography

Early life

Margaret Helen Phipps was born on November 17, 1906.[1] Her father was John Shaffer Phipps (1874–1958) and her mother, Margarita Celia Grace (1876-1957).[1][2] She had three brothers, John H. H. Phipps, Michael Grace Phipps (1910–1973) and Hubert Beaumont Phipps (1906–1969). Her paternal grandfather was Henry Phipps Jr. (1839–1930) and her maternal grandfather was Michael P. Grace (1842-1920).[1][3] She grew up at Old Westbury Gardens in Old Westbury, New York.[1]

Philanthropy

After her parents' deaths in 1957 and 1958, she developed the Old Westbury Gardens and decided to open her family residence to the public.[1][4] She became Founder and Chairman of the Old Westbury Gardens non-profit organization.[1][2][5]

She was featured in an episode of America's Castles.[6]

Personal life

She married J. Gordon Douglas Jr. in 1930.[1] They had a son and a daughter:

They divorced in 1947.[1]

In 1951, she married Etienne Boegner, a French businessman and diplomat, and the son of Marc Boegner (1881-1970), a prominent member of the French Resistance and the first President of the Protestant Federation of France.[8] He died in 1985.[1]

She died in 2006.[1] On June 30, 2010, some of her jewels were sold in an auction house in East Moriches, New York.[3]

Bibliography
  • Peggie Phipps Boegner, Richard Gachot, Halcyon Days: An American Family Through Three Generations (New York, New York: Harry N Abrams, 2007).

References
  1. Dennis Hevesi, Margaret Phipps Boegner, 99, Who Founded Old Westbury Gardens, Is Dead , The New York Times, September 19, 2006
  2. H. Eric Semler, LIFE STYLE: Sunday Outing; On Two Grand Estates, History and Horticulture, The New York Times, June 04, 1989
  3. James deVries, Peggy Phipps Boegner's Jewels to Appear in a Mysterious Sale, New York Social Diary,
  4. Paul J. Mateyunas, Long Island's Gold Coast, Arcadia Publishing, 2012, p. 54
  5. Paula Deitz, Of Gardens: Selected Essays, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, p. 185
  6. imdb
  7. The Peerage: Dita Amory Douglas
  8. Robert O. Paxton (ed.), Nicholas Wahl (ed.), De Gaulle and the United States: A Centennial Reappraisal, Paris, France: Editions Berg International, 1994, p. 37,
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