Millicent Rogers

Millicent Rogers
Millicent Rogers
Born	Mary Millicent Abigail Rogers; 1 February 1902; New York, NY
Died	1 January 1953 (aged 50); Santa Fe, New Mexico
Occupations	Art Collector; Jewelry Designer

Mary Millicent Abigail Rogers (February 1, 1902 – January 1, 1953) was an American socialite, heiress, fashion icon, jewelry designer and art collector. 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 as an influence on major fashion designers.

Early life

Rogers was born February 1, 1902, the eldest of two children born to Mary Benjamin (1879-1956) and Henry Huttleston Rogers Jr., (1880–1935). Her brother was Henry Huddleston Rogers III (1905-1948). Her mother Mary was a socialite, philanthropist and serious artist who would outlive her children; her father, Colonel Henry Huttleston Rogers Jr., known as 'Harry', was the son of Henry Huttleston Rogers, one of the founders of Standard Oil, and had had a distinguished military career. When his father died, not only did Harry inherit his father's wealth but, upon his death, became the sole owner of the Virginian Railway and a director of several other transportation companies.^[1] The family was enormously wealthy and divided their time between homes in Manhattan, Tuxedo Park and, in Southampton, New York, a mansion named Black Point.^[2] Mary was an intellectual, refined in the arts, and that is how she raised her daughter. Millicent was well-educated at home, by tutors. At age 8, she contracted Rheumatic fever and was bedridden for some time, which was when she became a voracious reader. She proved to be intellectually precocious—she and her brother shared a facility for languages and communicated with each other in Latin. At age 12, she was sent, as a boarder, to the Madeira School in McLean, Virginia. Seven years later, she made her debut.^[3]

Career

In the 1920s, as a young woman Rogers became well-known on the social 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 as an expatriate from 1932, settling in St. Anton, Austria in 1934, and remaining in Europe until World War II began.

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 addition to collecting, Rogers created designs for jewelry pieces,^[4]^[5] some of which she had commissioned, and some of which she herself made. Her pieces are noted for being bold, modern, and abstract,^[6]^[7] but also draw upon motifs from Europe, Africa, and America.^[8]

In 1951, Rogers and several prominent friends (including authors Frank Waters, Oliver La Farge, and Lucius Beebe) hired lawyers and visited Washington, D.C. to promote the issue of Indian rights and citizenship.^[9] She successfully lobbied for Native American art to be classified as historic, and therefore protected.^[9]

Personal life and death

Rogers was married three times. In January 1924, she eloped with Austrian Count Ludwig von Salm-Hoogstraeten, and they were married in a New York courtroom; she was 21 years old, and the groom was 38. A professional tennis player and aspiring film actor, Salm-Hoogstraeten was characterized by The New York Times as "a gold-digging Austrian count",^[2]^[10] and Time called him "penniless."^[11] The couple had one son, Peter Salm (1924–1994), but legally separated before the boy was born. Their divorce was finalized in April 1927.

On November 8, 1927, she married the Argentinian sportsman Arturo Peralta-Ramos (1902-1992).^[12] They were married in the parish house of the Basilica of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Southampton, Long Island, with only Rogers' father and a few friends in attendance.^[12] Approving of the marriage, Henry Rogers 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."^[12] The couple had two children: Arturo Henry Peralta-Ramos Jr. (1928-2015) and Paul Jaime Peralta-Ramos (1931-2003)^[13] Peralta-Ramos filed for divorce on December 6, 1935, with both parties citing "extreme cruelty."^[11]^[13]

In 1936, in Vienna, Rogers married Ronald Bush Balcom (1910–1994), an American stockbroker, socialite and champion skier.^[14]^[15] They lived at Rogers' home in St. Anton am Arlberg, in the Austrian Tyrol, until they were forced to leave due to the outbreak of World War II.^[3] They had no children and divorced in February 1941.^[11]

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 Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, an heir to the Italian throne.^[2]^[16]

Rogers' childhood bout with rheumatic fever affected her health for the rest of her life. She was plagued by pneumonia, had multiple heart attacks and, by age 40, a partially crippled left arm.She died in Santa Fe, New Mexico on January 1, 1953.^[17]

Legacy