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Harkness House For Ballet: In 1959, Mrs. Harkness established the Rebekah Harkness Foundation to assist in the development of American ballet. She took the Robert Jeffrey Ballet company under her wing, but after a disagreement with Jeffrey, she formed the Harkness Ballet under the direction of the choreographer George Skibine. In 1965 in New York City she founded the Harkness House for Ballet Arts, with a ballet school, rehearsal studios, and a gallery.
HARKNESS, hark'nas, Rebekah (1915- ), American patron of ballet, who founded the Harkness Ballet in 1964. She was born Rebekah Semple West in St. Louis, Mo., on April 17, 1915, the daughter of a stockbroker. After the death in 1954 of her second husband, William Hale Harkness, a principal owner of the Standard Oil Company, she studied composing and wrote several ballets, a number of orchestral works, and over 100 songs.
HARKNESS, hark'nas, Edward Stephen (1874-1940), American philanthropist. Harkness was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on Jan. 22, 1874, and was educated at Yale University. His fortune, one of the largest ever amassed in the United States, was inherited from Stephen Vanderburg Harkness, his father, who was an early partner of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.; from the former Anna M. Richardson, his mother; and from Charles William Harkness, his brother. |
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