List of Miss Porter's School alumnae explained

The following is a list of notable Ancients (alumnae) from Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut.

1850s

• Eliza Talcott – attended in the 1850s; founder of Kobe College^[1]

1870s

• Grace Hoadley Dodge (1873) – established Columbia University Teachers’ College^{[2] [3]}
• Nellie Grant (1873) – daughter of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and First Lady Julia Grant^[4]
• Mary Knight Wood (1875) – American pianist, music educator and composer^[5]
• Julia Lathrop (1876) – the first woman ever to head a government agency in the United States

1880s

• Helen Gilman Noyes Brown (1881) – philanthropist
• Edith Hamilton (1886) – Greek mythology scholar; sister of Alice Hamilton
• Alice Hamilton (1888) – first female faculty member of the Harvard Medical School; founder of the field of industrial medicine^[6]
• Theodate Pope Riddle (1888) – architect and philanthropist; architect and founder of Avon Old Farms School; architect of Westover School

1890s

• Madeline McDowell Breckinridge (1890) – a leader of the women's suffrage movement, a leading Progressive reformer, and great-granddaughter of Henry Clay^[7]
• Ruth Hanna McCormick (1897) – member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois and the first woman to run for the U.S. Senate
• Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark (née Nonie May Stewart) – American-born wife of Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, the son of King George I of Greece

1910s

• Edith Roelker Curtis (1912) – author, historian, and diarist
• Dorothy Keeley Aldis (1914) – American children's author and poet
• Emily Hale (1916) – speech and drama teacher, and muse of T.S. Eliot^[8]

1920s

• Helen Coley Nauts (1925) – founder of the Cancer Research Institute^{[9] [10]}

1930s

• Barbara Hutton (1930) – American socialite, dubbed "Poor Little Rich Girl"^[11]
• Gloria Vanderbilt – American artist, writer, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite
• Edith Bouvier Beale (1935) – American socialite; cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis; subject of the documentary film Grey Gardens
• Anne Cox Chambers (1938) – U.S. Ambassador to Belgium during the Carter administration^[12]
• Gene Tierney (1938) – Academy Award-nominated actress
• Brenda Frazier (1939) – American socialite

1940s

• Polly Allen Mellen (1942) – editor of Vogue magazine
• Dina Merrill (née Nedenia Hutton) (1943) – actress and American socialite
• Letitia Baldrige Hollensteiner (1943) – author and social secretary to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy^{[13] [14]}
• Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1947) – former First Lady of the United States^[15]
• Patience Cleveland (1948) – American actress and published author
• Lilly Pulitzer (née Lillian Lee McKim) (1949) – fashion designer and American socialite

1950s

• Lee Radziwill (née Bouvier) (1950) – public relations executive for Giorgio Armani, author, and younger sister of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
• Elizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam (1951) – founding president of the Student Conservation Association (SCA) and recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal^{[16] [17] [18]}
• Laura Rockefeller Chasin (1954) – American socialite
• Elise Ravenel Wood du Pont (1954) – former First Lady of Delaware and 1984 Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives
• Barbara Babcock (1955) – Emmy Award-winning actress for Hill Street Blues
• Pema Chödrön (formerly Deirdre Blomfield-Brown) (1955) – Buddhist nun and author; resident director of Gampo Abbey^[19]
• Edith Kunhardt Davis (1955) – children's author and illustrator, daughter of Dorothy Kunhardt^{[20] [21]}
• Agnes Gund (1956) – President Emerita of the Museum of Modern Art and 1997 recipient of the National Medal of Arts^{[22] [23]}

1960s

• Mimi Alford (1961) – former White House intern who wrote a book about her affair with John F. Kennedy^{[24] [25]}
• Sheila Ford Hamp (1969) – owner of the Detroit Lions

1970s

• Elizabeth May (1972) – the first elected Green Party Member of Parliament in Canada and leader of the Green Party of Canada
• Dorothy Bush Koch (1977) – philanthropist and member of the Bush political family
• Sarah Ludlow Blake (1978) – American writer^[26]

1980s

• Susannah Grant (1980) – director and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter for Erin Brockovich^[27]
• Ariane de Vogue (1984) – CNN reporter and commentator^[28]
• R. Erica Doyle (1985) – educator and poet^[29]
• Pippa Tubman Armerding (1986) – director of Africa Research Office, Harvard Business School^[30]
• Gregg Renfrew (1986) – entrepreneur and founder of Beautycounter
• Lisette Bross (1989) – Chief Strategy Officer, Radar Pictures^[31]
• Mary Anne Amirthi Mohanraj (1989) – American writer and editor

1990s

• Katherine Collins Pope (1990) – president of television at Chernin Entertainment, formerly president of Universal Media Studios, and executive producer of such television series as New Girl, Touch, and Ben & Kate^[32]
• Kate Bennett (1993) -- CNN White House reporter assigned to Melania Trump^[33]
• Chrishaunda Lee (1994) – niece of Oprah Winfrey and hostess of PBS programming^[34]

2000s

• Mamie Gummer (2001) – actress; daughter of actress Meryl Streep
• Victoria de Lesseps – French-American artist

Fictional alumnae

• In the 2003 drama Mona Lisa Smile, Joan Brandwyn's student file reveals that she attended Miss Porter's School, though the film incorrectly locates it in Pennsylvania
• In the 2000 drama The Skulls, Chloe is stated to have attended Miss Porter's School
• In the series Gossip Girl, a guest character by the name of Shelby Wright goes to Miss Porter's
• In the series Mad Men, Sally Draper attended Miss Porter's

Notes and References

1. Book: Ishii, Noriko Kawamura. American Women Missionaries at Kobe College, 1873-1909. March 2004. Routledge. 978-1-135-93620-4. en.
2. Book: Roger L. Geiger. History of Higher Education Annual 2000. 13 August 2016. 1 January 2000. Transaction Publishers. 978-1-4128-2521-4.
3. Book: John F. Ohles. Biographical Dictionary of American Educators. 1978. Greenwood Publishing Group. 978-0-313-04012-2. 386–387.
4. Waxman . Olivia B. . Nellie Grant | Happy Birthday to America—and her First Daughters | TIME.com . Time . Swampland.time.com . July 4, 2012 . April 23, 2013.
5. Book: The Musician. September 1, 2012. 5. 22. 1917. Hatch Music Company. 396.
6. News: Gorman. Kathleen. Miss Porter's Graduate to Appear on Stamp. Hartford Courant. Hartford. July 11, 1995. September 3, 2012.
7. Web site: Madeline McDowell Breckinridge Papers, 1867, 1888–1923. – Kentucky Digital Library . Eris.uky.edu . April 23, 2013.
8. Web site: Emily Hale Papers . Identifier: CA-MS-00344 . . 10 January 2020.
9. News: Helen C. Nauts, 93, Champion Of Her Father's Cancer Work . The New York Times . Eric . Nagourney . January 9, 2001.
10. Web site: Our History – CRI . https://web.archive.org/web/20080421153116/http://www.cancerresearch.org/history.html . dead . April 21, 2008 . Cancerresearch.org . April 23, 2013 .
11. Peretz. Evgenia. 2009-06-09. The Code of Miss Porter's. en-US. Vanity Fair. July. 2021-10-03. 0733-8899.
12. Web site: Heckert. Amanda. Anne Cox Chambers: A conversation with the famously private billionaire. September 3, 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120718064407/http://www.atlantamagazine.com/features/anniversary/story.aspx?ID=1457384. July 18, 2012.
13. News: Glasberg. Eve. A 'Village of Pretty Houses,' Where Women's Lives Were Reshaped. The New York Times. March 3, 2006.
14. Book: Davis, Nancy. Miss Porter's School: A History. 1992. 0-9632985-1-8. Barbara Donahue.
15. Web site: Boarding School Graduates – The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) . Boardingschools.com . April 23, 2013.
16. Web site: 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal Recipients | The White House . April 1, 2013 . . . April 23, 2013 .
17. https://www.porters.org/ftpimages/301/download/47481%20Miss%20Porters%20Bulletin%202.pdf
18. Web site: Miss Porter's School Annual Report 2009-2010, page 9 . April 23, 2013.
19. Web site: Pema Chödrön . Gampo Abbey . April 23, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130324235412/http://www.gampoabbey.org/pema-bio.php . March 24, 2013 .
20. News: Back in Print: 'Pat the Bunny' Author's Earliest Titles. Publishers Weekly. Aug 1, 2013.
21. News: Bulletin. Miss Porter's School. Winter 2012.
22. Web site: President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 12/22/10 | The White House . December 22, 2010 . . . April 23, 2013.
23. Web site: Judy . Prato . Miss Porter's School Honors Agnes Gund – Hartford Courant . Articles.courant.com . October 18, 2003 . April 23, 2013.
24. News: Sure, Mr. President, If You Really Want Me To . Janet Maslin. Janet. Maslin . The New York Times. February 9, 2012. C4. July 25, 2012.
25. News: What's the Most Shocking Part of Mimi Alford's Story?. Smith. Emily Esfahani. February 9, 2012. July 25, 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120213013345/http://ricochet.com/main-feed/What-s-the-Most-Shocking-Part-of-Mimi-Alford-s-Story. February 13, 2012.
26. News: Teacher Is Wed To Sarah Blake. The New York Times. August 5, 1984.
27. Web site: Miss Porter's School ~ alumnae . Porters.org . April 23, 2013.
28. Web site: CNN Profiles - Ariane de Vogue – CNN Supreme Court Reporter - CNN. CNN. 2018-09-27.
29. Web site: R. Erica Doyle. 2018-09-27. Poetry Foundation. en-us. Poetry Foundation. 2018-09-27.
30. Web site: Africa - – Global Initiative - Harvard Business School. www.hbs.edu. en-us. 2018-10-31.
31. Web site: Dispatch from Los Angeles, Part III Classic Chicago Magazine. Classic Chicago Magazine. 19 March 2016 . en-US. 2018-09-27.
32. News: Katherine Pope . ELLE Magazine . Andrew . Goldman . October 28, 2009.
33. Web site: CNN Profiles - Kate Bennett - White House Reporter - CNN. CNN. 2018-10-11.
34. Book: Kelley, Kitty . Oprah: a biography . Random House Large Print . 2010 . Large Print . New York . 587.