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Portrait of a donor: The story of Greenwich Library benefactor is examined in new book

Updated 1:30 pm, Thursday, September 12, 2013

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  • This portrait of Greenwich Library benefactor Clementine Lockwood Peterson hangs in the front lobby of the Peterson Wing created after her 1992 bequest of $25 million. Photo: Contributed Photo / Greenwich Citizen
    This portrait of Greenwich Library benefactor Clementine Lockwood Peterson hangs in the front lobby of the Peterson Wing created after her 1992 bequest of $25 million. Photo: Contributed Photo

 

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Clementine Lockwood Peterson is one of Greenwich's greatest benefactors - yet hardly anyone in town knows a thing about her. That should soon change, however, thanks to a new book about her life, "The Lady in the Portrait: Clementine Lockwood Peterson." The book is the work of the Greenwich Library's Oral History Project.

Peterson's portrait, and that of her husband, J. Whitney Peterson, overlooks nearly every person who checks a book out at Greenwich Library in the Peterson Wing. Her surprise bequest of $25 million (that quickly became $30 million) to Greenwich Library came at her death in 1992 and reportedly remains the largest amount ever given to a public library in the country.

The new biography is put together from 11 interviews of those who knew Clementine Peterson and those who were there when the astonishing news came of Mrs. Peterson's bequest. The book reveals a woman with diverse interests and talents -- down to earth, with a generous nature, and with "quirky aspects" of her personality. Peterson's surprise bequest came over 15 years after she had moved away to Pennsylvania, seemingly putting her life in Greenwich behind her.

To learn more about Clementine Peterson and what the book reveals about her the Greenwich Citizen asked a few questions of OHP editor-in-chief Harriet Feldman and Mary Ellen LeBien who headed the OHP at the time of the Peterson bequest.

Tell us about the impetus for doing this book and how you've shaped it?

Feldman: The Library trustees were eager for us to do this. Mrs. Peterson gave this gift in 1992 when she was 88, and many people don't know about her and her bequest. It was a total surprise. No one was expecting it. She would be 110 years old today. On her 100th birthday we had a big party in her honor. To do the book, we formed the Peterson Book Team a year ago. We settled on a concept of the book to be organized in three chapters: `The Woman,' `The Bequest' and `The Legacy.' The book includes narratives taken from 11 interviews. It's the first book we've published on demand online. It runs 137 pages, and it's fully illustrated.

What was her motivation in the bequest?

Feldman: Her bequest stated it must be used in the areas of business and music, in memory of her husband, J. Whitney Peterson, who was president of the United States Tobacco Company, who died in 1959, age 61, and in memory of her son and only child, Jonathan, who died two years earlier in 1957 in a car accident at the age of 24. Her son was an avid music fan.

When did she live in Greenwich, and what were her interests?

LeBien: She lived in Greenwich from 1936, first on Zaccheus Mead Lane, and then in 1960 she downsized on Taconic Road before she moved to the Crosslands retirement home in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The most remarkable aspect of this woman was she was a woman of many interests and talents who was formal in her demeanor -- but who was down to earth and very generous with many people. Her business acumen was great. She also had interesting quirky aspects of her that are fun to read about in this book. She was a great promoter, for instance, of the keeshond breed of dogs.

Feldman: She introduced the keeshond breed from the Netherlands, and became a breeder and shower and ultimately wrote a very detailed book about the breed. She also was interested in 18th century antiques, gardening and landscaping. She sculpted birds and dogs -- we have photos of her sculpture. She was a graduate of Bennett Junior College. She was a member of the board of the Community Chest and aware of so much publicity material being discarded so she wrote this book, "Newspaper Publicity or How to Avoid the Waste Basket."

Mary Ellen LeBien, you are listed as one of the 11 interviewees or narrators. Did you know Mrs. Peterson?

LeBien: No, but in 1992, the year of the Peterson bequest, I was on the board of the Friends of the Greenwich Library as well as chair of the Greenwich Library's Oral History Project. I subsequently joined the Greenwich Library Board of Trustees in 1994 and served as president of the board from 2000-2002.

So what was the reaction to that surprise bequest?

LeBien: Karen Fox was board president then when the Library director informed her she had received a call from the law firm of Cummings & Lockwood asking Karen to come to their offices. She was informed of the news of the bequest and then informed the staff and Friends. There was much astonishment and elation! At the time of her death, Mrs. Peterson's bequest was $25 million, but by the time it went through probate it was close to $30 million. [The value remains close to the original $30 million.].Her donation to Greenwich Library is the highest bequest to any community library in the country. Mrs. Peterson established an independently controlled foundation to disburse the funds with the understanding that it would benefit two areas in the library - business and music.

The book, "The Lady in the Portrait: Clementine Lockwood Peterson," is available for purchase for $17 at Greenwich Library.

 
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