What do you think?
Rate this book
Edith: The Rogue Rockefeller McCormick
WINNER, 2021 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year in Traditional Nonfiction!
Chicago’s quirky patron saint This thrilling story of a daughter of America’s foremost industrialist, John D. Rockefeller, is complete with sex, money, mental illness, and opera divas—and a woman who strove for the independence to make her own choices. Rejecting the limited gender role carved out for her by her father and society, Edith Rockefeller McCormick forged her own path, despite pushback from her family and ultimate financial ruin. Young Edith and her siblings had access to the best educators in the world, but the girls were not taught how to handle the family money; that responsibility was reserved for their younger brother. A parsimonious upbringing did little to prepare Edith for life after marriage to Harold McCormick, son of the Reaper King Cyrus McCormick. The rich young couple spent lavishly. They purchased treasures like the jewels of Catherine the Great, entertained in grand style in a Chicago mansion, and contributed to the city’s cultural uplift, founding the Chicago Grand Opera. They supported free health care for the poor, founding and supporting the John R. McCormick Memorial Institute for Infectious Diseases. Later, Edith donated land for what would become Brookfield Zoo. Though she lived a seemingly enviable life, Edith’s disposition was ill-suited for the mores of the time. Societal and personal issues—not least of which were the deaths of two of her five children—caused Edith to experience phobias and panic attacks. Dissatisfied with rest cures, she ignored her father’s expectations, moved her family to Zurich, and embarked on a journey of education and self-examination. Edith pursued analysis with then-unknown Carl Jung. Her generosity of spirit led Edith to become Jung’s leading patron. She also supported up-and-coming musicians, artists, and writers, including James Joyce as he wrote Ulysses . While Edith became a Jungian analyst, her husband, Harold, pursued an affair with an opera star. After returning to Chicago and divorcing Harold, Edith continued to deplete her fortune. She hoped to create something of lasting value, such as a utopian community and affordable homes for the middle class. Edith’s goals caused further difficulties in her relationship with her father and are why he and her brother cut her off from the family funds even after the 1929 stock market crash ruined her. Edith’s death from breast cancer three years later was mourned by thousands of Chicagoans. Respectful and truthful, Andrea Friederici Ross presents the full arc of this amazing woman’s life and expertly helps readers understand Edith’s generosity, intelligence, and fierce determination to change the world
Chicago’s quirky patron saint This thrilling story of a daughter of America’s foremost industrialist, John D. Rockefeller, is complete with sex, money, mental illness, and opera divas—and a woman who strove for the independence to make her own choices. Rejecting the limited gender role carved out for her by her father and society, Edith Rockefeller McCormick forged her own path, despite pushback from her family and ultimate financial ruin. Young Edith and her siblings had access to the best educators in the world, but the girls were not taught how to handle the family money; that responsibility was reserved for their younger brother. A parsimonious upbringing did little to prepare Edith for life after marriage to Harold McCormick, son of the Reaper King Cyrus McCormick. The rich young couple spent lavishly. They purchased treasures like the jewels of Catherine the Great, entertained in grand style in a Chicago mansion, and contributed to the city’s cultural uplift, founding the Chicago Grand Opera. They supported free health care for the poor, founding and supporting the John R. McCormick Memorial Institute for Infectious Diseases. Later, Edith donated land for what would become Brookfield Zoo. Though she lived a seemingly enviable life, Edith’s disposition was ill-suited for the mores of the time. Societal and personal issues—not least of which were the deaths of two of her five children—caused Edith to experience phobias and panic attacks. Dissatisfied with rest cures, she ignored her father’s expectations, moved her family to Zurich, and embarked on a journey of education and self-examination. Edith pursued analysis with then-unknown Carl Jung. Her generosity of spirit led Edith to become Jung’s leading patron. She also supported up-and-coming musicians, artists, and writers, including James Joyce as he wrote Ulysses . While Edith became a Jungian analyst, her husband, Harold, pursued an affair with an opera star. After returning to Chicago and divorcing Harold, Edith continued to deplete her fortune. She hoped to create something of lasting value, such as a utopian community and affordable homes for the middle class. Edith’s goals caused further difficulties in her relationship with her father and are why he and her brother cut her off from the family funds even after the 1929 stock market crash ruined her. Edith’s death from breast cancer three years later was mourned by thousands of Chicagoans. Respectful and truthful, Andrea Friederici Ross presents the full arc of this amazing woman’s life and expertly helps readers understand Edith’s generosity, intelligence, and fierce determination to change the world
248 pages, Hardcover
Published August 24, 2020
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 22, 2020
This is a fascinating, well-researched book about the life of John D. Rockefeller’s most intelligent, creative and misunderstood child.
Edith was the fourth of five children born into the richest family of the day in 1872. She grew up in an isolated, deeply conservative, luxurious home within the lush expanses of beautiful country side. Her early education was received mostly by tutors. Later her father started a private school to educate his children along with a few other children of wealth. There she met her future husband, Harold McCormick, son of “Reaper King” Cyrus McCormick.
The wealthy young couple spend money like it grows on trees. They live a life as close to royalty as ever existed in the USA, with little to no expectations in return for their privileged lifestyle. Edith is into high fashion and is a society leader in Chicago. She hosts many extravagant parties. Their Chicago home and gardens covers an entire city block. Edith manages a household staff of more than 17 servants, and speaks directly only to the supervisors, never to the minions.
Edith and Harold have five children between 1897 and 1905. Though she states that the happiest time of her life was when her children were babies, Edith does not have a strong maternal cognizance. The children’s nannies have to arrange appointments for them to see their own mother. The death of their first-born son, Jack, leaves a shattered family. He was John D. Rockefeller’s first grandchild and namesake.
Edith begins to have mental illness symptoms from panic attacks and phobias after the death of Jack, followed by that of an infant daughter. From then on, most of her interaction with her parents is via letters.
There are several cases of mental illness in both the McCormick and Rockefeller families. Harold’s older sister Mary Virginia and younger brother Stanley are both locked away in gilded cages to protect them from their mental illnesses. Edith’s sister Bessie dies in France at age 40 from suspected mental illness complications. Mental illness always seems just around the corner. Is it hereditary or are the children of these two industrial titans overwhelmed by the long-reaching shadows of their fathers?
Edith spends eight years in Switzerland under the care of Dr. Carl Jung, the Father of Psychotherapy. Her phobias prevent her from returning to America for any reason during those years, even family weddings or the death of her mother. She loses favor with her father.
Harold deviously panders to her younger brother (who by then controls the family purse strings). He divorces Edith, connives to take everything except one home, and even turns the children against her.
Edith must now find a way to make it on her own. It seems she may have the mettle to pull it off—but then the Depression hits.
This brilliantly written biography is praised by a great granddaughter for illuminating Edith’s life. Though born in an era of no rights for women, she did live to see women gain their voting rights. A brilliant person, Edith learned to speak several languages and cut her own course despite the gender limitations and discrimination of her time. At times she was unlikable but still I felt a sense of sadness for the life she lived. Despite her privilege and wealth, Edith was indeed a poor little rich girl.
This book was reviewed for Story Circle Book Reviews by Ann McCauley.
Edith was the fourth of five children born into the richest family of the day in 1872. She grew up in an isolated, deeply conservative, luxurious home within the lush expanses of beautiful country side. Her early education was received mostly by tutors. Later her father started a private school to educate his children along with a few other children of wealth. There she met her future husband, Harold McCormick, son of “Reaper King” Cyrus McCormick.
The wealthy young couple spend money like it grows on trees. They live a life as close to royalty as ever existed in the USA, with little to no expectations in return for their privileged lifestyle. Edith is into high fashion and is a society leader in Chicago. She hosts many extravagant parties. Their Chicago home and gardens covers an entire city block. Edith manages a household staff of more than 17 servants, and speaks directly only to the supervisors, never to the minions.
Edith and Harold have five children between 1897 and 1905. Though she states that the happiest time of her life was when her children were babies, Edith does not have a strong maternal cognizance. The children’s nannies have to arrange appointments for them to see their own mother. The death of their first-born son, Jack, leaves a shattered family. He was John D. Rockefeller’s first grandchild and namesake.
Edith begins to have mental illness symptoms from panic attacks and phobias after the death of Jack, followed by that of an infant daughter. From then on, most of her interaction with her parents is via letters.
There are several cases of mental illness in both the McCormick and Rockefeller families. Harold’s older sister Mary Virginia and younger brother Stanley are both locked away in gilded cages to protect them from their mental illnesses. Edith’s sister Bessie dies in France at age 40 from suspected mental illness complications. Mental illness always seems just around the corner. Is it hereditary or are the children of these two industrial titans overwhelmed by the long-reaching shadows of their fathers?
Edith spends eight years in Switzerland under the care of Dr. Carl Jung, the Father of Psychotherapy. Her phobias prevent her from returning to America for any reason during those years, even family weddings or the death of her mother. She loses favor with her father.
Harold deviously panders to her younger brother (who by then controls the family purse strings). He divorces Edith, connives to take everything except one home, and even turns the children against her.
Edith must now find a way to make it on her own. It seems she may have the mettle to pull it off—but then the Depression hits.
This brilliantly written biography is praised by a great granddaughter for illuminating Edith’s life. Though born in an era of no rights for women, she did live to see women gain their voting rights. A brilliant person, Edith learned to speak several languages and cut her own course despite the gender limitations and discrimination of her time. At times she was unlikable but still I felt a sense of sadness for the life she lived. Despite her privilege and wealth, Edith was indeed a poor little rich girl.
This book was reviewed for Story Circle Book Reviews by Ann McCauley.
July 5, 2021
Who knew there was such an interesting and culturally engaged female Roosevelt who at one point was also successful in real estate? Her personal life was challenging and for much of her life, she was estranged from her husband, children, and the Roosevelt and McCormick families, but she contributed much to Chicago and organizations including supporting the arts, zoos, Carl Jung's work in Europe, and medical work in infectious diseases. Her family had many issues with her especially her denouncement of organized religion and her obsessive spending. It is obvious that she was correct concerning the fact that had she been a male in the Roosevelt family her life would have been very different. The author had to do significant research for this book as, unlike the other Roosevelt's who meticulously kept their papers for posterity, hers were destroyed upon her death.
August 20, 2022
Edith was the daughter Of John D. Rockefeller and the wife of Harold McCormick (Cyrus McCormick's son). She had access to unimaginable wealth and influential people. But, her life was not as amazing as it might seem. During her time women not considered capable of doing many things men did. Her brother was given most of the family money and control over Edith's share of it. She worked hard to make the world a better place donating to causes like the opera, Brookfield Zoo, and affordable housing. She led a fascinating life. She met James Joyce when he wasn't really known by anyone and encouraged and supported him. She met Carl Jung and became his patient. She championed his work and is a big part of the reason his work became as popular as it is. An interesting story of an interesting life.
February 27, 2021
Andrea Friederici Ross’s biography of Edith Rockefeller McCormick – daughter of John D. and wife of an heir to the International Harvester empire -- is a research tour de force that reads like a novel. With mental illness in both families, Edith was herself emotionally withdrawn, very distant from her three surviving children and at times nearly agoraphobic. Her treatment by Carl Jung led her to be his ardent disciple, and she herself became a psychotherapist. Though ruled – and often over-ruled -- by her father, John D., and her brother, Junior, she was an extravagant patron of the arts, social causes, and particularly Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo. Her husband divorced her to marry a talentless opera singer, and after being one of the richest women in the world, Edith died in relative penury. This book is so involving, I even enjoyed consulting the footnotes.
April 11, 2021
I was privileged enough to read this book from its beginnings in a writing class where I met Andrea. Her deep commitment to get Edith's story right led her on this ten year journey. The result is this well researched biography of an important woman of history. It is just a shame that much of Edith's own writings were destroyed by her father and brother. The sexism of the time and the Rockefeller's is an all too familiar tale. However, Andrea gives us a definitive portrait of Edith as possible and highlights the important contributions Edith made not only to Chicago, but to the world. Highly recommend!
December 20, 2020
Recently I started reading books of historical women who contributed so much to society, but little if any has been taught about them. This book told the amazing story of Edith and how her work changed Chicago/Chicago area so much for the better. A true accomplishment as women were boxed in because of the patriarchy. The story is told well and the reader truly gets to know the real Edith. I highly recommend reading this book, taking your time to really absorb all the nuances that make her an outstanding woman.
March 2, 2021
This is an exceptional book about an exceptional woman. Andrea Friederici Ross’ extensive research is obvious and draws us into Edith’s story and all she was able to accomplish (despite not being taken seriously as a woman in so many situations.) This story will make you angry on her behalf but you will also admire her ongoing tenacity. This is a remarkable work that honors Edith’s many legacies and highlights a history that might otherwise have been lost. This is a well-written and beautifully documented work that has the suspense and pace of a fiction novel.
January 26, 2022
Andrea Frederici Ross has dug deeply into the story of this little-known Chicago philanthropist, who should be better recognized for her accomplishments but whose life was managed by her billionaire father and brother, the John D. Rockefellers, Jr. and Sr. As a fellow biographer, I was impressed both by Andrea's attention to detail as well as the passion she brought to the story, which she explains in her Introduction. It made for good vacation-reading, a biography that is a good length, rather than a "tome"--even though I'm sure she was forced to leave much of what she knew in her notebooks
April 2, 2023
This chronicled journey of Edith’s life is written with eloquent detail and insight. Anyone the least bit interested in the Rockefeller family and early 20th century history will be consumed with this refreshing perspective. By the end I not only felt as though I would have loved to meet Edith, but also that perhaps reading Andrea’s book was just as fulfilling. The only downside, in my opinion, is that reading on this level of detail is a more methodical task than a quick afternoon read, but well worth the time and patience.
September 20, 2022
This was a very interesting, but also frustrating book to read. I learned a lot about the Rockefeller and McCormick families, especially the things Edith did to benefit the city of Chicago. Despite all the research the author did, I still don't feel like I know Edith. Most of her papers were destroyed when she died, so much of the information about her is based on the views of others. I also felt the author was using 21st century ideas to explain the actions of Edith and her family.
October 4, 2020
What a well written biography of an influential, strong women living in a world of decision-making men! The events of Edith’s life as presented in this intriguing book, cover a wide variety of current social topics that our country is currently facing, making this the perfect book for your next book club!
March 1, 2021
I highly recommend this engaging and beautifully written/researched book. It is an important addition to women and their fight for equality. I find myself wanting to expand my knowledge of Edith and the times in which she lived as a woman. Her influence and charity were remarkable and need to be known and acknowledged today.
April 30, 2023
A pretty good biography of a Rockefeller that most people don't know. She definitely had a great impact on the development of Chicago. I did not know that Brookfield Zoo wouldn't exist without the contributions and efforts of Edith. I think the Chicago connection kept me interested in her story even though she spent so much of her life in Europe because of her phobias. 4 stars.
June 19, 2023
The author did a fantastic amount of detailed research which was the basis for the book. It reads more like a history book than historical fiction. The characters didn't jump off the page for me, although their lives were filled with unusual lifestyles, tragedies, and loneliness. Money doesn't buy happiness!
June 4, 2022
Very interesting content, lots of details, interesting woman, and staggering excess and wealth.
Great to see that women’s rights have evolved in the last century. Just felt it was dry…and glad to move on to a more compelling story.
Great to see that women’s rights have evolved in the last century. Just felt it was dry…and glad to move on to a more compelling story.
Read
March 11, 2023Reads like a novel!
I would recommend this book for the person who wants to learn but also be entertained. It's also fun to learn about the first family of Chicago...being from Chicago myself. Definite purchase!
I would recommend this book for the person who wants to learn but also be entertained. It's also fun to learn about the first family of Chicago...being from Chicago myself. Definite purchase!
March 13, 2022
I enjoyed learning about all that Edith did for the city of Chicago.
March 29, 2022
A well-researched biography of a woman I knew nothing about, this book sheds a light on not only her but also on the extended Rockefeller and McCormick families themselves. Fascinating!
May 29, 2022
This is a terrific biography, the author researched in depth the life of a very interesting woman. The book was written with care and attention to detail.
July 6, 2022
Very interesting, especially considering her family burned most of her letters.
Read
September 29, 2022Sad but thorough
A very complete, methodical biography of a woman who deserved more that she got. Truly this was one of the great women of Chicago!
A very complete, methodical biography of a woman who deserved more that she got. Truly this was one of the great women of Chicago!
December 19, 2022
Well-written. Non-fiction but reads like a fiction novel. Edith was a progressive woman for her time who led a rather sad life in many ways.
February 23, 2023
interesting
Loved to learn about my city founders and contributors. Live yo be able to match names with places especially growing up near Brookfield Zoo!
Loved to learn about my city founders and contributors. Live yo be able to match names with places especially growing up near Brookfield Zoo!
April 26, 2023
Interesting look into the contributions that this generation made to the cultural institutions in Chicago.
October 5, 2023
DNF. Reads too much like a term paper.
October 5, 2022
If she had only been a man, she would have been more recognized for her contributions.
January 9, 2023
Friederici Ross does a good job bringing Edith to life in well-researched, highly readable detail. The book feels very complete, but reads very breezily. The author has a commendable attachment to her subject: an intellectually curious and driven woman who lived at a time when society had little room for such people. But for all that Edith contributed culturally to Chicago, I could never see her as more than an extremely wealthy person with no obvious skills of her own.
Edith Rockefeller McCormick might have been an intellectual lion, as the author argues. But far above that, she was the world's richest woman, a product of her having joined two dynastic fortunes by marriage. She didn't actually make any of her money (her opportunities being limited by sexism) and when she did try to engage in business, all but one venture failed. What she was good at was spending extravagantly: on herself, on her property, and when she sensed an opportunity to remake a rapidly-growing Chicago in her own likeness, as the rich tend to do, on her adopted city. These contributions included a center for studying scarlet fever, Chicago's first opera company (her closest project, shuttered shortly after her death), and Brookfield Zoo (founded for tax purposes after she failed to do anything else productive with the land).
But her contributions to herself always came first. She spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on collectibles such as Napoleon's silver dinner service, Peter the Great's rug, an original Byzantine bible, and more. She spent much more than that on clothes and jewelry, which she saw as part of her commitment to playing the part of Chicago's grande dame. (One standout expense among, literally, countless: in the basement of their 41-room mansion was a printing press that "churned out daily gold menu cards for each meal in French." 17) Hundreds of servants and staffs of dozens manned houses that stood empty. Hundreds of thousands of dollars a year went to custom-designed jewelry. Simply put, she spent money like someone who could not even imagine money having a limit. And why not? She was the world's richest woman.
And yes, she donated in her preferred places, but Edith Rockefeller McCormick lived at a time when the super-rich were in a donating mood. I thought frequently of the early parts of The Power Broker, in which a young Robert Moses came up through the parks system because so many of his fellow rich boys were donating their endless lands to New York State for conservation — and when even Moses himself, one of the most disdainful servants of the public in history, dedicated himself to the noblesse oblige of creating a better public. Giving to the public from an endless ledger was the style of the time.
And it was so because the rich were, then as now, so rich. I thought too of this TV special by John Kenneth Galbraith on the obscene amounts of money the rich were expected to spend in those days.
Edith lived thusly. With so much of the country's wealth aimed at a small but growing city, she was destined to be its premier citizen before lifting a finger. Her New York Times obituary rightly contextualizes her prominence:
That she seemed to be intelligent and free-spirited is admirable, but she also conformed to expectations (maybe having the intelligence to do so?) and married Chicago's richest son, Harold McCormick, whose family ran the International Harvester company. Edith would never live out of luxury until the Depression hit, when she was forced to move into a four-room suite at the luxurious Drake Hotel — an unimaginable humiliation for her.
If she was a rebel against her upbringing, it was in the way she insisted on spending money in contravention of how her father, the original John D. Rockefeller, lived his own life. He was a miser and an extremely skilled money manager; so much so that upon Edith's death, the only reason her heirs had anything to split was because "Senior" had previously refused to give Edith access to her own trust, fearing she would blow it. (Which she would have.) She looked down on the effective saving of money — "According to my standards money should be kept in circulation," she once said (153), presumably not understanding that to most people it is a limited resource — and yet never hesitated to ask her father for money when she needed it, right up to her death. What a hero.
With all that said, the book is quite enjoyable and its central character an interesting prime mover in the development of Chicago.
Edith Rockefeller McCormick might have been an intellectual lion, as the author argues. But far above that, she was the world's richest woman, a product of her having joined two dynastic fortunes by marriage. She didn't actually make any of her money (her opportunities being limited by sexism) and when she did try to engage in business, all but one venture failed. What she was good at was spending extravagantly: on herself, on her property, and when she sensed an opportunity to remake a rapidly-growing Chicago in her own likeness, as the rich tend to do, on her adopted city. These contributions included a center for studying scarlet fever, Chicago's first opera company (her closest project, shuttered shortly after her death), and Brookfield Zoo (founded for tax purposes after she failed to do anything else productive with the land).
But her contributions to herself always came first. She spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on collectibles such as Napoleon's silver dinner service, Peter the Great's rug, an original Byzantine bible, and more. She spent much more than that on clothes and jewelry, which she saw as part of her commitment to playing the part of Chicago's grande dame. (One standout expense among, literally, countless: in the basement of their 41-room mansion was a printing press that "churned out daily gold menu cards for each meal in French." 17) Hundreds of servants and staffs of dozens manned houses that stood empty. Hundreds of thousands of dollars a year went to custom-designed jewelry. Simply put, she spent money like someone who could not even imagine money having a limit. And why not? She was the world's richest woman.
And yes, she donated in her preferred places, but Edith Rockefeller McCormick lived at a time when the super-rich were in a donating mood. I thought frequently of the early parts of The Power Broker, in which a young Robert Moses came up through the parks system because so many of his fellow rich boys were donating their endless lands to New York State for conservation — and when even Moses himself, one of the most disdainful servants of the public in history, dedicated himself to the noblesse oblige of creating a better public. Giving to the public from an endless ledger was the style of the time.
And it was so because the rich were, then as now, so rich. I thought too of this TV special by John Kenneth Galbraith on the obscene amounts of money the rich were expected to spend in those days.
Edith lived thusly. With so much of the country's wealth aimed at a small but growing city, she was destined to be its premier citizen before lifting a finger. Her New York Times obituary rightly contextualizes her prominence:
Mrs. McCormick's leadership in Chicago society... remained unchallenged throughout her lifetime, partly due to an attitude born of her position as the richest woman in Chicago and the daughter of the richest man in the world. (170)
That she seemed to be intelligent and free-spirited is admirable, but she also conformed to expectations (maybe having the intelligence to do so?) and married Chicago's richest son, Harold McCormick, whose family ran the International Harvester company. Edith would never live out of luxury until the Depression hit, when she was forced to move into a four-room suite at the luxurious Drake Hotel — an unimaginable humiliation for her.
If she was a rebel against her upbringing, it was in the way she insisted on spending money in contravention of how her father, the original John D. Rockefeller, lived his own life. He was a miser and an extremely skilled money manager; so much so that upon Edith's death, the only reason her heirs had anything to split was because "Senior" had previously refused to give Edith access to her own trust, fearing she would blow it. (Which she would have.) She looked down on the effective saving of money — "According to my standards money should be kept in circulation," she once said (153), presumably not understanding that to most people it is a limited resource — and yet never hesitated to ask her father for money when she needed it, right up to her death. What a hero.
With all that said, the book is quite enjoyable and its central character an interesting prime mover in the development of Chicago.
October 6, 2021
"Tall tales" abound in northern Illinois about Edith, daughter of John D. Rockefeller. This excellently researched biography (illustrated with vintage photos) puts many of them to rest. But, on the other hand, it chronicles escapades of members of her famous family that we hadn't heard! It was a very interesting read with appearances by Carl Jung, James Joyce, a gold-digging opera diva, Cyrus McCormick and locations such as Brookfield Zoo, Prentice Hospital, the Drake Hotel, and Lake Forest beach.
October 12, 2020
From the second you look at and touch this book you fall in love with it, and this continues as you read this masterfully written book about Edith. One of the best biographies I have read! I highly recommend you read this book, it will not disappoint!
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews