Evalyn Walsh McLean

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Evalyn Walsh McLean with the Hope (above) and the Star of the East (below)

Evalyn Walsh McLean (born August 12, 1886 in Leadville , Colorado ; † April 24, 1947 in Washington, DC ) was the American owner of the famous 45-carat Hope diamond , which she came into possession in 1911. The 94-carat Star of the East has also been part of their diamond collection since 1908.

Life

Evalyn Walsh McLean was the daughter of the Irish immigrant Thomas Francis Walsh (1850-1910) and the American Carrie Reed. Her father was wealthy by owning gold mines and counted as owner of the Camp Bird Mine in Camp Bird ( Ouray County , Colorado) of the richest men in the world. This enabled Evalyn to live a luxurious life.

McLean couple (1912)
Walsh Mansion, Walsh McLean's home, now listed as the Indonesian Embassy on the National Register of Historic Places

Evalyn married her childhood friend Edward Beale McLean (1889–1941), the heir of the daily newspaper The Washington Post , in 1908 . The marriage had four children: Vinson, John, Edward and Emily. Vinson died after being hit by a car. Following her son's accidental death, Evalyn Walsh McLean developed a drug addiction , and her husband became addicted to alcohol .

The family-owned newspaper The Washington Post was auctioned in 1932 due to financial difficulties.

Her son Edward (1918-1987) was married from 1943 to 1948 to Gloria Hatrick McLean, who later became the wife of actor James Stewart . Daughter Emily married Senator Robert Rice Reynolds and died five years later at the age of 24 from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. The accumulation of strokes of fate was portrayed in the media as the "curse of the Hope diamond", but Evalyn Walsh McLean himself considered it to be "the natural consequence of undeserved wealth in undisciplined hands."

Evalyn McLean died of pneumonia a year after her daughter was 61 .

Walsh Mansion (2020 Massachusetts Avenue, NW), completed by her father in 1903 and inherited from her in 1910 , has been a listed building since 1973 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . It has been the seat of the Indonesian embassy since 1952 .

The famous Hope diamond went to a trust fund for their grandchildren, was sold in 1949 to the jeweler Harry Winston , who left it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC in 1958 . The diamond can be admired in the National Museum of Natural History .

McLean's trip to the Soviet Union is mentioned in the Cole Porter song, Anything Goes, in the verses "When Mrs Ned McLean (God bless her) / Can get Russian reds to" yes "her, / Then I suppose / Anything goes."

Publications

  • with Boyden Sparkes: Father Struck It Rich. 1936, Western Reflections Publishing, Reprinted 1999, ISBN 978-1890437268 .
  • later posts by Sam Sloan: Father Struck It Rich. The Curse of the Hope Diamond. Ishi Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0923891046 .

literature

  • Edward T. James: Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, Mass .: Harvard University Press, 1971. ISBN 0-674-62734-2 , p. 472

Web links

Commons : Evalyn Walsh McLean  - Collection of Images
Commons : Walsh Mansion House  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ M'Lean Heir Killed By An Automobile: Nine-Year-Old Who Would Inherit $ 100,000,000 Struck in Road Near His Home . In: The New York Times , May 19, 1919. Retrieved March 18, 2016. 
  2. ^ The Misfortunes of Evalyn Walsh McLean , Smithonian National Museum of Natural History
  3. ^ Paul K. Williams, Kelton C. Higgins: Cleveland Park, Arcadia Publishing, 2003, p. 45 [1]
  4. ↑ a b Legendary piece of jewelery: The curse of the blue diamond , Der Tagesspiegel , November 10, 2013
  5. ↑ Obituary: James Stewart, the Hesitant Hero, Dies at 89 . In: New York Times . July 3, 1997. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  6. ↑ 'Unlucky' M'Lean Hope Diamond Left in Trust for Grandchildren Gem Will Be Worn No More for at Least 20 Years - Sons Inherit Walsh Estate - Reynolds Gets Life Use of 'Friendship' . In: The New York Times , May 1, 1947. Retrieved March 18, 2016. 
  7. ↑ St. Petersburg Times , September 21, 1946
  8. ^ "Mrs. Reynolds' Death Accidental," The New York Times , October 4, 1946
  9. ^ A b Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the Congress, Volume 93, Part 11, United States. Congress US Government Printing Office, 1947, p. 1973, right column above [2]
  10. ↑ Legendary piece of jewelry: The Curse of the Blue Diamond , Der Tagesspiegel , November 10, 2013
  11. ↑ Mrs. M'Lean Buried Beside Her Daughther . In: The New York Times , April 30, 1947. Retrieved March 18, 2016. 
  12. ↑ G. Martin Moeller Jr .: AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, Part 3 . JHU Press, 2006, ISBN 9780801884689 , p. 248. [3]
  13. ↑ Monument entry # 73002091.
  14. ^ US Indonesia Diplomatic and Political Cooperation Handbook . USA International Business Publications, 2007, ISBN 9781438751795 , p. 69. [4]
  15. ^ Stephen A. Hansen: A History of Dupont Circle: Center of High Society in the Capital . Arcadia Publishing, August 26, 2014, ISBN 978-1-62619-564-6 , p. 154.
personal data
SURNAME McLean, Evalyn Walsh
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entrepreneur's daughter, last private owner of the Hope Diamond
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Leadville , Colorado
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1947
Place of death Washington, DC