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Cordelia Scaife May

May 09, 2023

Cordelia Scaife May (September 24, 1928 – January 26, 2005) was a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-area political donor and philanthropist. An heiress to the Mellon-Scaife family fortune, she was one of the wealthiest women in the United States. Her philanthropy and political causes included environmentalism, birth control and family planning; overpopulation control measures, making English the official language of the United States, and strict immigration restrictions to the United States. According to The New York Times, "she bankrolled the founding and operation of the nation’s three largest restrictionist groups—the Federation for American Immigration Reform, NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies,"[1] and she left the bulk of her assets to the Colcom Foundation, whose major activity has been the sponsorship of immigration restriction.[1]

May lived a reclusive life, especially after the death of her second husband in 1974.[2]

Biography

Early life and education

On September 24, 1928, May was born as Cordelia Mellon Scaife in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. May's father was Alan Magee Scaife and her mother was Sarah Cordelia Mellon Scaife.[3] May's maternal grandfather was Richard B. Mellon. May is the grand-niece of Andrew W. Mellon.[4] May and her brother Richard Mellon Scaife grew up at the family estate in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. May attended Foxcroft School, a boarding school for girls. According to May, her childhood was largely unhappy; her "eccentric" mother Sarah was "just a gutter drunk" who let nannies do the work in raising her.[5]

May attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, now known as Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh briefly, but left school to get married.

Personal life

On June 30, 1949, Cordelia Scaife married Herbert A. May Jr. The marriage lasted only a few months; they soon divorced.[5] After May's divorce, she resumed a childhood friendship with Robert Duggan. However, they were unable to be married for a long period of time, as both their families disapproved. To the wealthy and Protestant Mellons, Duggan was a lower-class Catholic beneath the family's stature; to Duggan's family, May was a divorcee ineligible for a Catholicism-sanctioned marriage.[6] On August 29, 1973, Duggan and May secretly civilly married in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Duggan was by then the Allegheny County District Attorney of Pennsylvania.[4][5] The marriage was kept secret at first, but eventually leaked to the press.[1] Duggan was under federal investigation by United States Attorney Dick Thornburgh for allegations of racketeering and corruption. On March 5, 1974, he was found dead of gun shot wounds hours before being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of income tax evasion. His death was ruled a likely suicide, but May maintained that he was murdered. The incident resulted in May falling out with her brother Richard, and by extension the family advisors that were shared between her and the family, as she came to the belief that her brother was somehow responsible for the death.[1] Afterward, May lived reclusively, corresponding mostly by mail with new friends such as the activist John Tanton.[1]

Death

On January 26, 2005, May died at her home, Cold Comfort Farm, in Ligonier Township, Pennsylvania at age 76, and was cremated.[2][5] The cause of death was suicide by asphyxiation after a struggle with pancreatic cancer.[7] She was survived by her estranged brother Richard, with whom she had partially reconciled in 1999.[5]

Political and philanthropic donations

May made charitable donations to land conservation, watershed protection, environmental education, and population causes.[6][5] When her mother died in 1965, May inherited a sizable portion of the Mellon fortune. She would distribute tens of millions of dollars to charity through the Laurel Foundation, Colcom Foundation (established 1996), and directly, most on the condition her name not be revealed.[5] Most of the Colcom Foundation's donations go to anti-immigration causes.[1]

May was routinely listed on the Forbes list of the wealthiest Americans; in 2004, the year before her death, she had a net worth of $825 million and was #363 on Forbes' list of wealthiest Americans.[5]

In 1951, May established Laurel Foundation, a private foundation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[8] In 1996, May established Colcom Foundation. May served as the chairman of both foundations until her death in 2005.[9] In the year 1972, May was the single largest contributor to candidates running for Congress.[1]

In 2005, the year of her death, May gave more to charity than any other individual in the United States. Her charitable donations for the year were almost one-tenth of the $4.3 billion donated by the nation's leading philanthropists.[10]

Pittsburgh area initiatives

May's largesse helped fund a number of projects in the Pittsburgh area, including the Pittsburgh National Aviary, the Montour Trail, the Riverlife Task Force, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh.[6]

Population control

May became aware of overpopulation issues in childhood, when she was introduced to the work of Margaret Sanger by her grandmother.[11] By 1952 she began to actively . There is a bust of Margaret Sanger in the National Portrait Gallery which was a gift from May.[12][13] By 1974, she had resigned from Planned Parenthood, based on her view that family planning was a waste of money in the presence of massive immigration.[1][14]

Anti-immigration

May opposed immigration. She argued the United States was "being invaded on all fronts" by immigrants who "breed like hamsters" and exhaust America's resources.[1] Her anti-immigration activism began in the 1970s.[1]

May's contributions, both directly and through her foundations, have principally funded anti-immigrant initiatives, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Center for Immigration Studies, the American Immigration Control Foundation, Californians for Population Stabilization, the California Center for Immigration Reform, and Numbers USA.[1] The Center for Immigration Studies is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.[15] The Los Angeles Times reported that Scaife May was the single largest donor to anti-immigrant causes and "An ardent environmentalist more comfortable with books and birds than with high-society galas, May believed nature was under siege from runaway population growth. Before her death in 2005, she devoted much of her wealth to rolling back the tide--backing birth control and curbing immigration, both legal and illegal."[16] The Times also wrote that May donated $200,000 to conservative columnist Samuel T. Francis, who called for a halt to all immigration and who opposes the mixing of the races.[16]

May also supported English-only movements, guided by John Tanton. Originally that was through the group U.S. English, which successfully lobbied for an Arizona ballot proposition to conduct all state business in English. After Tanton was kicked out of the group for memos that endorsed eugenics and denounced a "Latin onslaught", Tanton founded a new group, ProEnglish. May was a prominent funder for ProEnglish, in keeping with Tanton. According to Roger Conner, the first chairman of FAIR, "John [Tanton] became the one who would carry her legacy forward the way a son or a daughter would... John assured her what she believed in her life would carry on.[1]

She also funded the republication and distribution of the dystopian novel The Camp of the Saints in 1983, a novel popular among the far right and widely described as racist by critics; the Southern Poverty Law Center has compared it to The Turner Diaries.[17][18][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kulish, Nicholas; McIntire, Mike (August 14, 2019). "Why a Banking Heiress Spent Her Fortune on Keeping Immigrants Out". The New York Times. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Pitz, Marylynne (February 11, 2005). "Friends gather to honor memory of Cordelia May". post-gazette.com. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  3. ^ "Cordelia Scaife". geni.com. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Mrs. Cordelia S. May Is Wed To Pittsburgh District Attorney". The New York Times. November 7, 1973. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Sullivan, Patricia (January 28, 2005). "Cordelia May, 76: Mellon Heir Avoided Spotlight". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Pro, Johnna A. and Pitz, Marylynne, "Obituary: Cordelia Scaife May", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 27, 2005.
  7. ^ Kulish, Nicholas; McIntyre, Mike (August 18, 2019). "Why Cordelia Scaife May spent her fortune fighting immigration". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Laurel Foundation". Laurel Foundation. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  9. ^ "Colcom Foundation". Colcom Foundation. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  10. ^ "Cordelia May tops givers list", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, February 20, 2006.
  11. ^ Vondas, Jerry, "Philanthropist Cordelia Scaife May dies at 76", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 27, 2005.
  12. ^ "Margaret Sanger", National Portrait Gallery, (accessed August 10, 2018).
  13. ^ Lauren Hodges Twitter Instagram (2015-08-27). "National Portrait Gallery Won't Remove Bust Of Planned Parenthood Founder : The Two-Way". NPR. Retrieved 2016-06-30. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  14. ^ Kulish, Nicholas; McIntire, Mike (August 14, 2019). "In Her Own Words: The Woman Who Bankrolled the Anti-Immigration Movement". The New York Times. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  15. ^ "Center for Immigration Studies". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  16. ^ a b "Late heiress' anti-immigration efforts live on". Los Angeles Times. 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  17. ^ Blumenthal, Paul; Rieger, J. M. (2017-03-04). "This Stunningly Racist French Novel Is How Steve Bannon Explains The World". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  18. ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  19. ^ Matthew Connelly and Paul Kennedy (December 1994). "Must It Be the Rest Against the West?". Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 2009-04-09.

Further reading

  • Kulish, Nicholas; McIntire, Mike (August 14, 2019). "In Her Own Words: The Woman Who Bankrolled the Anti-Immigration Movement". The New York Times.

May 09, 2023
cordelia, scaife, september, 1928, january, 2005, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, area, political, donor, philanthropist, heiress, mellon, scaife, family, fortune, wealthiest, women, united, states, philanthropy, political, causes, included, environmentalism, birth,. Cordelia Scaife May September 24 1928 January 26 2005 was a Pittsburgh Pennsylvania area political donor and philanthropist An heiress to the Mellon Scaife family fortune she was one of the wealthiest women in the United States Her philanthropy and political causes included environmentalism birth control and family planning overpopulation control measures making English the official language of the United States and strict immigration restrictions to the United States According to The New York Times she bankrolled the founding and operation of the nation s three largest restrictionist groups the Federation for American Immigration Reform NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies 1 and she left the bulk of her assets to the Colcom Foundation whose major activity has been the sponsorship of immigration restriction 1 May lived a reclusive life especially after the death of her second husband in 1974 2 Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life and education 1 2 Personal life 1 3 Death 2 Political and philanthropic donations 2 1 Pittsburgh area initiatives 2 2 Population control 2 3 Anti immigration 3 See also 4 References 5 Further readingBiography EditEarly life and education Edit On September 24 1928 May was born as Cordelia Mellon Scaife in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania May s father was Alan Magee Scaife and her mother was Sarah Cordelia Mellon Scaife 3 May s maternal grandfather was Richard B Mellon May is the grand niece of Andrew W Mellon 4 May and her brother Richard Mellon Scaife grew up at the family estate in Ligonier Pennsylvania May attended Foxcroft School a boarding school for girls According to May her childhood was largely unhappy her eccentric mother Sarah was just a gutter drunk who let nannies do the work in raising her 5 May attended Carnegie Institute of Technology now known as Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh briefly but left school to get married Personal life Edit On June 30 1949 Cordelia Scaife married Herbert A May Jr The marriage lasted only a few months they soon divorced 5 After May s divorce she resumed a childhood friendship with Robert Duggan However they were unable to be married for a long period of time as both their families disapproved To the wealthy and Protestant Mellons Duggan was a lower class Catholic beneath the family s stature to Duggan s family May was a divorcee ineligible for a Catholicism sanctioned marriage 6 On August 29 1973 Duggan and May secretly civilly married in Lake Tahoe Nevada Duggan was by then the Allegheny County District Attorney of Pennsylvania 4 5 The marriage was kept secret at first but eventually leaked to the press 1 Duggan was under federal investigation by United States Attorney Dick Thornburgh for allegations of racketeering and corruption On March 5 1974 he was found dead of gun shot wounds hours before being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of income tax evasion His death was ruled a likely suicide but May maintained that he was murdered The incident resulted in May falling out with her brother Richard and by extension the family advisors that were shared between her and the family as she came to the belief that her brother was somehow responsible for the death 1 Afterward May lived reclusively corresponding mostly by mail with new friends such as the activist John Tanton 1 Death Edit On January 26 2005 May died at her home Cold Comfort Farm in Ligonier Township Pennsylvania at age 76 and was cremated 2 5 The cause of death was suicide by asphyxiation after a struggle with pancreatic cancer 7 She was survived by her estranged brother Richard with whom she had partially reconciled in 1999 5 Political and philanthropic donations EditMay made charitable donations to land conservation watershed protection environmental education and population causes 6 5 When her mother died in 1965 May inherited a sizable portion of the Mellon fortune She would distribute tens of millions of dollars to charity through the Laurel Foundation Colcom Foundation established 1996 and directly most on the condition her name not be revealed 5 Most of the Colcom Foundation s donations go to anti immigration causes 1 May was routinely listed on the Forbes list of the wealthiest Americans in 2004 the year before her death she had a net worth of 825 million and was 363 on Forbes list of wealthiest Americans 5 In 1951 May established Laurel Foundation a private foundation based in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 8 In 1996 May established Colcom Foundation May served as the chairman of both foundations until her death in 2005 9 In the year 1972 May was the single largest contributor to candidates running for Congress 1 In 2005 the year of her death May gave more to charity than any other individual in the United States Her charitable donations for the year were almost one tenth of the 4 3 billion donated by the nation s leading philanthropists 10 Pittsburgh area initiatives Edit May s largesse helped fund a number of projects in the Pittsburgh area including the Pittsburgh National Aviary the Montour Trail the Riverlife Task Force the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the Women s Center amp Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh 6 Population control Edit May became aware of overpopulation issues in childhood when she was introduced to the work of Margaret Sanger by her grandmother 11 By 1952 she began to actively address national population issues There is a bust of Margaret Sanger in the National Portrait Gallery which was a gift from May 12 13 By 1974 she had resigned from Planned Parenthood based on her view that family planning was a waste of money in the presence of massive immigration 1 14 Anti immigration Edit May opposed immigration She argued the United States was being invaded on all fronts by immigrants who breed like hamsters and exhaust America s resources 1 Her anti immigration activism began in the 1970s 1 May s contributions both directly and through her foundations have principally funded anti immigrant initiatives including the Federation for American Immigration Reform FAIR the Center for Immigration Studies the American Immigration Control Foundation Californians for Population Stabilization the California Center for Immigration Reform and Numbers USA 1 The Center for Immigration Studies is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center 15 The Los Angeles Times reported that Scaife May was the single largest donor to anti immigrant causes and An ardent environmentalist more comfortable with books and birds than with high society galas May believed nature was under siege from runaway population growth Before her death in 2005 she devoted much of her wealth to rolling back the tide backing birth control and curbing immigration both legal and illegal 16 The Times also wrote that May donated 200 000 to conservative columnist Samuel T Francis who called for a halt to all immigration and who opposes the mixing of the races 16 May also supported English only movements guided by John Tanton Originally that was through the group U S English which successfully lobbied for an Arizona ballot proposition to conduct all state business in English After Tanton was kicked out of the group for memos that endorsed eugenics and denounced a Latin onslaught Tanton founded a new group ProEnglish May was a prominent funder for ProEnglish in keeping with Tanton According to Roger Conner the first chairman of FAIR John Tanton became the one who would carry her legacy forward the way a son or a daughter would John assured her what she believed in her life would carry on 1 She also funded the republication and distribution of the dystopian novel The Camp of the Saints in 1983 a novel popular among the far right and widely described as racist by critics the Southern Poverty Law Center has compared it to The Turner Diaries 17 18 19 See also EditMellon familyReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l Kulish Nicholas McIntire Mike August 14 2019 Why a Banking Heiress Spent Her Fortune on Keeping Immigrants Out The New York Times Retrieved August 14 2019 a b Pitz Marylynne February 11 2005 Friends gather to honor memory of Cordelia May post gazette com Retrieved September 6 2018 Cordelia Scaife geni com Retrieved September 6 2018 a b Mrs Cordelia S May Is Wed To Pittsburgh District Attorney The New York Times November 7 1973 Retrieved September 6 2018 a b c d e f g h Sullivan Patricia January 28 2005 Cordelia May 76 Mellon Heir Avoided Spotlight The Washington Post Retrieved September 6 2018 a b c Pro Johnna A and Pitz Marylynne Obituary Cordelia Scaife May Pittsburgh Post Gazette January 27 2005 Kulish Nicholas McIntyre Mike August 18 2019 Why Cordelia Scaife May spent her fortune fighting immigration Pittsburgh Post Gazette Retrieved 30 October 2020 Laurel Foundation Laurel Foundation Retrieved September 6 2018 Colcom Foundation Colcom Foundation Retrieved September 6 2018 Cordelia May tops givers list Pittsburgh Tribune Review February 20 2006 Vondas Jerry Philanthropist Cordelia Scaife May dies at 76 Pittsburgh Tribune Review January 27 2005 Margaret Sanger National Portrait Gallery accessed August 10 2018 Lauren Hodges Twitter Instagram 2015 08 27 National Portrait Gallery Won t Remove Bust Of Planned Parenthood Founder The Two Way NPR Retrieved 2016 06 30 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a author has generic name help Kulish Nicholas McIntire Mike August 14 2019 In Her Own Words The Woman Who Bankrolled the Anti Immigration Movement The New York Times Retrieved August 14 2019 Center for Immigration Studies Southern Poverty Law Center Retrieved 2019 09 13 a b Late heiress anti immigration efforts live on Los Angeles Times 2013 07 25 Retrieved 2019 09 13 Blumenthal Paul Rieger J M 2017 03 04 This Stunningly Racist French Novel Is How Steve Bannon Explains The World The Huffington Post Retrieved 2017 03 05 Intelligence Report Archived from the original on 2008 04 12 Retrieved 2008 04 06 Matthew Connelly and Paul Kennedy December 1994 Must It Be the Rest Against the West Atlantic Monthly Retrieved 2009 04 09 Further reading EditKulish Nicholas McIntire Mike August 14 2019 In Her Own Words The Woman Who Bankrolled the Anti Immigration Movement The New York Times Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cordelia Scaife May amp oldid 1151467375, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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