Fall Museum Benefit Set for October 21, 2015

The CDA fall benefit for the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden, is set for October 21, 2015. The annual event will support the education programs of our museum, which is owned and operated by the CDA and accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

All Dames are invited to attend with their guests. First Vice President General Beverley Sherrid is chairman of the event.

Pictured at left: PPG Courtney Garland Iglehart

This year’s featured speaker is Past President General Courtney Garland Iglehart (Mrs. Iredell W. Iglehart). Courtney will recall “Turning Points: The Colonial Dames, Their Museum and the Bicentennial”, which coincided with her term as President General (1974-1978). In May 1976 that the New York Times called the CDA “one of America’s most exclusive organizations.”

The CDA was very involved in the historic celebrations surrounding the Bicentennial. During that time period the Dames mounted an exceptionally successful capital campaign, The Campaign for Independence, which raised funds for the purchase and renovation of our headquarters at 417 East 61st Street, New York. The museum was also renovated during this these years; it had been named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 while Courtney was an active member of the CDA Board of Managers.

Courtney is a native of Baltimore and graduated from Vassar College. She moved to New York with her husband in the mid-1950s. In addition to her long and dedicated service to the Society, Courtney was also Director for New York of Stratford Hall, Virginia, and Director of Development and Admissions at St. Bernard’s School. Since retiring to her hometown, she has been active with CDA Chapter I – Baltimore.

The evening will feature live and silent auctions, with proceeds to benefit the museum. Tempting items such as a weeklong stay in Rome and Umbria, four nights in an apartment in Manhattan, high fashion jewelry from Erwin Pearl, a drawing by well-known artist Frances Middendorf and much more will come under the hammer. Look for online opportunities to place your bids.

Read more about the benefit in the Social Register Observer.

For more information, please contact Museum Director Terri Daly at (212) 838-6878 or email Terri at [email protected]. The benefit will be held Wednesday, October 21, 2015, from six until eight-thirty in the evening, at the Abigail Adams Smith Auditorium, 417 East 61st Street, New York, New York 10065, between First and York Avenues.