Elaine Lorillard
Encyclopedia
Elaine Guthrie Lorillard (October 11, 1914 – November 26, 2007) was an American
socialite
who was a founder of the Newport Jazz Festival
.
. She was the daughter of Walter Edward Guthrie and Eliza Pray Guthrie. Her father owned a printing company in Boston, MA, and her mother was classical singer. Elaine attended the New England Conservatory of Music
, and in 1943 she went to work for the Red Cross, where she taught piano and painting to orphans in Naples, Italy. In Naples she met United States Army
Lieutenant Louis Livingston Lorillard (1919-1984) and they married in 1946. Louis was a descendant of Pierre Lorillard, the founder of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company in 1760. In Naples she first was exposed to Jazz. She had also been exposed to jazz while living in New York City before joining the Red Cross.
where she had been treated for MRSA at the age of 93.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
who was a founder of the Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
.
Early years
She was born as Elaine Guthrie in Tremont, MaineTremont, Maine
Tremont is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. It is located on the southwestern side of Mount Desert Island, known to locals as "the quietside."...
. She was the daughter of Walter Edward Guthrie and Eliza Pray Guthrie. Her father owned a printing company in Boston, MA, and her mother was classical singer. Elaine attended the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
, and in 1943 she went to work for the Red Cross, where she taught piano and painting to orphans in Naples, Italy. In Naples she met United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Lieutenant Louis Livingston Lorillard (1919-1984) and they married in 1946. Louis was a descendant of Pierre Lorillard, the founder of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company in 1760. In Naples she first was exposed to Jazz. She had also been exposed to jazz while living in New York City before joining the Red Cross.
Jazz Festival
While visiting Storyville Nightclub with her brother Thomas T. Guthrie and his friend Professor Borne from Boston University in 1953, she and Mr. Lorillard met George Wein, who owned the nightclub and they told him jazz might liven up the "terribly boring" establishment. Her husband, tobacco heir Louis Lorillard, who died in 1984, gave a $20,000 grant to a festival, the first of which in July 1954 attracted 11,000 fans. Mr. Lorillard continued to support the festival until 1961. The Lorillards maintained even after their divorce in the seventies that the Newport Jazz Festival was founded by Elaine and Louis Lorillard as a nonprofit organization, proceeds of which would have gone to promote the education of musicians.Death
She died of an infection in the Heatherwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Newport, Rhode IslandNewport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
where she had been treated for MRSA at the age of 93.