Gertrude Clarke Whittall
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(aged 97)Gertrude Clarke Whittall | |
|---|---|
 Gertrude Clarke Whittall in 1900 | |
| Born | October 7, 1867 |
| Died | June 29, 1965 (aged 97) |
| Parent(s) | |
| Relatives | Maurice Gordon Clarke, Henry Clarke |
Gertrude Clarke Whittall (October 7, 1867 – June 29, 1965) was an American philanthropist. She donated five musical instruments built by Antonio Stradivari to the Library of Congress, and the Library's Whittall Pavilion is named for her.
Gertrude Clarke Whittall was born Gertrude Littlefield Clarke on October 7, 1867 in Bellevue, Nebraska.[1] She was one of seven children and the only daughter of Henry Tefft Clarke, Sr., a Nebraska businessman and politician, and his wife Martha Fielding Clark.[2] She grew up on her parents' Nebraska farm surrounded by her brothers, then at the age of 12, she was sent to a girls' boarding school.[3] When she was older, she studied at the Sorbonne, learned Spanish and French, and travelled extensively.[1][4] On June 4, 1906, she married a British-born Massachusetts carpet manufacturer, Matthew John Whittall.[1] Initially they lived at his home Whittall Manor in Worcester, Massachusetts.[5] In 1912, they bought property in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, where they built a sprawling mansion and estate they called Juniper Hill.[6]
Matthew Whittall died in 1922.[7][8] Gertrude Whittall donated Juniper Hill to the Masonic Grand Lodge of Massachusetts for use as a hospital. In 1976, Shrewsbury bought the hospital and grounds, demolished the building, and created Prospect Park.[6]
After living in Boston for a time, in 1934, Whittall moved to Washington, D.C., where she spent the rest of her life, living in the Shoreham Hotel, then the Sheraton-Park Hotel.[7]