Agnes E. Meyer was born Agnes Elizabeth Ernst January 2, 1887 to first generation German immigrant parents. She graduated from the Sorbonne and became known as a journalist, literary translator, author and activist. She was an advocate for public education reporting on the inequities of segregation in the Washington, DC and Prince George's County, Maryland public school systems. Agnes was an art collector donating many pieces of her collection to the Freer Gallery, Washington, DC.
She married Eugene Mayer in 1910, an investment banker who also served as chairman of the Federal Reserve, and in 1933 he purchased the Washington Post. Agnes wrote Mildred Bliss May 7, 1937 thanking her for a beautiful evening on her personal letterhead stamped with the address 1624 Crescent Place, NW, Washington [D.C.].
On September 1, 1970 Agnes died at the age of 83.
References
The Meyer Foundation, Our History. http://meyerfoundation.org/impact/our-history.
Garden Archives Correspondence E5:1937.05.07.