Crab Tree Farm History Includes Ties to Antiquarian Society

Historian Report from December 2020 Board Meeting

Looking forward to next week's virtual workshop at Crab Tree Farm, Historian Celia Hilliard noted that all three owners of this historic property have been members of the Antiquarian Society. This includes Grace Durand, who first established the site as a model dairy farm. She was an outstanding businesswoman, also an art collector and world traveler. Her membership in the Antiquarian Society was her primary tie to the Art Institute, and she bequeathed to the museum a collection of fine textiles she had acquired in India. Following Grace Durand's death, the farm was sold to AIC board chairman William McCormick Blair, whose wife Helen was a longtime Antiquarian, as is Neville Bryan, the current owner and co-host of our upcoming Special Collection Workshop.

Proud of our traditions! Thanking you all for helping to create this warm circle of friendship, Celia