Alice du Pont Mills
Encyclopedia
Alice Francis du Pont Mills (December 13, 1912 - March 13, 2002) was an American
aviatrix, thoroughbred
race horse breeder and owner, environmentalist
, philanthropist
and a member of the prominent du Pont family
.
Born in Wilmington, Delaware
, the daughter of Alexis F. du Pont
(1879–1948) and Mary Chichester (1878–1965), after graduating from Oldfields School
in Glencoe
, Maryland
, the wealthy Alice du Pont pursued a wide variety of interests. Like her brothers, Felix
and Richard
, she too had a passion for flying. In 1932, she was only twenty years old when she and brother Richard flew an open-cockpit plane up the Amazon River
.
In 1935, she married James Paul Mills (1908–1987) http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/843627972.html?dids=843627972:843627972&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+30%2C+1935&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=Miss+Alice+Du+Pont+Weds+J.+P.+Mills%2C+Broker&pqatl=google, who shared her love of flying and with whom she had three children.
Her grandson was Richard P. Mills (aka Grimnir Wotansvolk / G. Heretik, owner of the American National Socialist black metal record label and distro "Vinland Winds") who died in mysterious circumstances on August 28, 2006
During World War II
, Ms du Pont Mills served as a volunteer flight instructor for United States military pilots at an airfield on Long Island, New York. With the war over, in 1946 she and her husband flew a single-engine plane from New York City
to Buenos Aires
, Argentina
. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/16/classified/paid-notice-deaths-mills-alice-dupont.html
The Chichester du Pont Foundation was incorporated in 1946 by Alice du Pont Mills, Felix du Pont, Lydia Chichester du Pont, and Mary Chichester du Pont Clark. The foundation, which remains in operation, is primarily involved in supporting youth with donations made to social service organizations for the direct benefit of children.
where they maintained Hickory Tree Farm and Stable, a thoroughbred
breeding and racing operation. Her stable won numerous stakes races, notably in 1966 when her filly
Glad Rags
won a British Classic Race, the 1,000 Guineas Stakes. At the 1982 Keeneland yearling sale
she bought the Windfields Farm
colt
, Devil's Bag
. Trained by Woody Stephens
, Devil's Bag was voted the Eclipse Award
winner as American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt of 1983 and a favorite for the 1984 Kentucky Derby
, However, the horse had to be retired after sustaining an injury. Devil's Bag was syndicated for US$36 million as a breeding sire
, and produced more than 40 stakes winners before his death in 2005.
Through her involvement with thoroughbred horses, Alice du Pont Mills became a member of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, Hickory Tree Farm and Stable elected a member of its Hall of Fame. She served as a Trustee of the United States Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, was an Advisory Trustee to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
, and was a Director of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. A founding member of the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Virginia
, Alice du Pont Mills' cousin, Marion duPont Scott, was a significant owner/breeder in both flat
and steeplechase
racing.
Involved in a number of charitable works, Alice du Pont Mills was a member of the national board of directors of Planned Parenthood. A conservationist, she was an active advocate for the preservation and careful management of the environment and of natural resources, serving as founding member of Virginia's Bull Run Conservancy and the Piedmont Environmental Council and became a Trustee of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.
Alice du Pont Mills died in Virginia in 2002.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
aviatrix, thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
race horse breeder and owner, environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
and a member of the prominent du Pont family
Du Pont family
The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...
.
Born in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
, the daughter of Alexis F. du Pont
Alexis F. du Pont
Alexis Felix du Pont Sr. was a member of the American du Pont family and helped found St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware. His son, Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr., co-founded the All American Aviation Company, predecessor of today's US Airways Group, Inc, whose primary subsidiary is US Airways,...
(1879–1948) and Mary Chichester (1878–1965), after graduating from Oldfields School
Oldfields School
Oldfields School, founded in Baltimore County, Maryland in 1867 by Anna Austen McCulloch, is the oldest girls' boarding school in Maryland.A college preparatory boarding and day school for girls in grades 6 through 12 located in Glencoe, near Sparks, Maryland, Oldfield's School has approximately...
in Glencoe
Glencoe, Maryland
Glencoe is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Glencoe was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983....
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, the wealthy Alice du Pont pursued a wide variety of interests. Like her brothers, Felix
Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr.
Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr. was an American aviation pioneer, soldier, philanthropist, and a member of the prominent Du Pont family.-Biography:...
and Richard
Richard C. du Pont
Richard Chichester du Pont was an American businessman and an aviation and glider pioneer who was a member of the prominent Du Pont family....
, she too had a passion for flying. In 1932, she was only twenty years old when she and brother Richard flew an open-cockpit plane up the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
.
In 1935, she married James Paul Mills (1908–1987) http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/843627972.html?dids=843627972:843627972&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+30%2C+1935&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=Miss+Alice+Du+Pont+Weds+J.+P.+Mills%2C+Broker&pqatl=google, who shared her love of flying and with whom she had three children.
Her grandson was Richard P. Mills (aka Grimnir Wotansvolk / G. Heretik, owner of the American National Socialist black metal record label and distro "Vinland Winds") who died in mysterious circumstances on August 28, 2006
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Ms du Pont Mills served as a volunteer flight instructor for United States military pilots at an airfield on Long Island, New York. With the war over, in 1946 she and her husband flew a single-engine plane from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/16/classified/paid-notice-deaths-mills-alice-dupont.html
The Chichester du Pont Foundation was incorporated in 1946 by Alice du Pont Mills, Felix du Pont, Lydia Chichester du Pont, and Mary Chichester du Pont Clark. The foundation, which remains in operation, is primarily involved in supporting youth with donations made to social service organizations for the direct benefit of children.
Thoroughbred racing
In 1949, she and her husband settled on a country estate in Middleburg, VirginiaMiddleburg, Virginia
Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States with a population of approximately 976 as of July 2010.-History:The town was established in 1787 by American Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel and Virginia statesman, Levin Powell. He purchased the land for Middleburg at $2.50 per...
where they maintained Hickory Tree Farm and Stable, a thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
breeding and racing operation. Her stable won numerous stakes races, notably in 1966 when her filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
Glad Rags
Glad Rags II
Glad Rags is a Thoroughbred racehorse best known for giving renowned trainer Vincent O'Brien his only win in the British Classic 1,000 Guineas Stakes....
won a British Classic Race, the 1,000 Guineas Stakes. At the 1982 Keeneland yearling sale
Keeneland Sales
The Keeneland Sales is an American Thoroughbred auction house in Lexington, Kentucky founded in 1935 as a nonprofit racing/auction entity on 147 acres of farmland west of Lexington, which had been owned by Jack O. Keene...
she bought the Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm
Windfields Farm is a six square kilometre thoroughbred horse breeding farm founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated with a property near the city of Toronto known as Parkwood Stable when it was owned by...
colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
, Devil's Bag
Devil's Bag
Devil's Bag was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse who was syndicated as a two-year-old for US$36 million, the highest price for any 2-year-old in racing history.Bred by Canadian E. P...
. Trained by Woody Stephens
Woody Stephens
Woody Stephens was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer.Born Woodford Cefis Stephens in Stanton, Kentucky, his younger brother William Ward Stephens also became a successful trainer. Woody Stephens first started in racing as a jockey at age 16 but within a few years switched...
, Devil's Bag was voted the Eclipse Award
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
winner as American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt of 1983 and a favorite for the 1984 Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
, However, the horse had to be retired after sustaining an injury. Devil's Bag was syndicated for US$36 million as a breeding sire
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
, and produced more than 40 stakes winners before his death in 2005.
Through her involvement with thoroughbred horses, Alice du Pont Mills became a member of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, Hickory Tree Farm and Stable elected a member of its Hall of Fame. She served as a Trustee of the United States Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, was an Advisory Trustee to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
, and was a Director of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. A founding member of the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a historic town in, and county seat of, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. Leesburg is located west-northwest of Washington, D.C. along the base of the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. Its population according the 2010 Census is 42,616...
, Alice du Pont Mills' cousin, Marion duPont Scott, was a significant owner/breeder in both flat
Flat racing
Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles...
and steeplechase
Steeplechase (horse racing)
The steeplechase is a form of horse racing and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside...
racing.
Involved in a number of charitable works, Alice du Pont Mills was a member of the national board of directors of Planned Parenthood. A conservationist, she was an active advocate for the preservation and careful management of the environment and of natural resources, serving as founding member of Virginia's Bull Run Conservancy and the Piedmont Environmental Council and became a Trustee of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.
Alice du Pont Mills died in Virginia in 2002.