What does philanthropy look like? Ninah M. H. Cummer, the patron of The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, was a wealthy white woman with a passion for art, who sought to extend her love of beautiful surroundings from her private garden to the parks and public spaces of Jacksonville. Eartha M. M. White, a black woman of modest means, established — through sheer force of will — a wide range of social support agencies for the city’s homeless, poor, aged, and neglected.
Through photographs, letters, and ephemera, this exhibition celebrates two strong women who helped shape Jacksonville in the twentieth century, and whose legacies remain vibrant today. Materials for the exhibition were sourced from the Clara White Mission; the Jacksonville Historical Society; the University of North Florida Thomas Carpenter Library, Special Collections; and the Archives of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.
Eartha White and Ninah Cummer: Connecting with Community will be on display in the Milner Gallery from November 27, 2012 through April 14, 2013.
