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Emily Vanderbilt Sloane

Emily Vanderbilt Sloane Hammond (September 17, 1874 – February 22, 1970) was an author, philanthropist, and socialite. She was a member of the Vanderbilt family, and mother of music producer John Hammond.[1] She was a keen musician and was president of numerous charitable societies.

Emily Vanderbilt Sloane

September 17, 1874

Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

February 22, 1970(1970-02-22) (aged 95)

136 East 64th Street
Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

Vanderbilt Family Mausoleum, Staten Island, New York, U.S.

Heiress, author, philanthropist

John Henry Hammond

Adele Sloane Hammond
Alice Frances Hammond
Rachel Hammond
John Henry Hammond II

Emily Thorn Vanderbilt
William Douglas Sloane

See Vanderbilt family

Biography[edit]

Emily Vanderbilt Sloane was born on September 17, 1874, to Emily Thorn Vanderbilt (1852–1946) and W. & J. Sloane heir William Douglas Sloane (1844–1915).[2][3] She was the granddaughter of William Henry Vanderbilt.[1]


She was raised in New York, and summered at Elm Court, a mammoth shingle-style cottage in Lenox, Massachusetts.[1] Uninterested in the débutante social circles of her peers, she preferred playing the piano at Sunday school. She took a keen interest in religion, delivering small sermons to her brothers and sisters, and later considered her faith important to mask the guilt of being born into a wealthy family.[4]


As an adult, Emily regularly attended opera and public lectures, and employed a social secretary. She disliked alcohol and tobacco and forbade either of them to be consumed in her house.[5]

Philanthropy[edit]

Vanderbilt Sloane was enthusiastic about donating money to good causes and social demands.[5] She was a supporter of educationalist Martha Berry and made many financial contributions to Berry College; correspondence between the two women was later made public.[6] A major activity of hers was the restoration of the Theodore Roosevelt House at 28 East 20th Street. She was president of the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association for many years. She was president of the Home Thrift Association, supporting a Yorkville settlement house, and was president for 43 years of the Three Arts Club, a residence for women studying music, painting and drama. She was a founder of the Parents' League of New York in 1914, and later became its president. She was the president of the Peoples' Chorus of New York, and a commissioner of the Girl Scouts of Westchester County.[5]


After her husband's death in 1949, she donated the family's 277-acre Mount Kisco estate, Dellwood, to the Moral Rearmament movement.[5][7]

Adele Sloane Hammond (1902–1998), who married John K. Olyphant Jr. (1895–1973) in 1927. After his death in 1973,[14] she married John Josiah Emery Jr. (1898–1976).[15]

[13]

Alice Frances Hammond (1905–1978), who married (1901–1986) in March 1927.[16] They divorced in January 1942.[17] She married Benny Goodman (d. 1986)[18] in March 1942.[19]

George Arthur Victor Duckworth

Rachel Hammond (1908–2007), who married Richard L. McClenahan.[21] They divorced in February 1942 and she married John Gordon Ferrier Speiden (1900−1970) in May 1942.[22] They also divorced and she married Manley du Pont Breck (1906−1972) in 1961.[23]

[20]

(1910–1987), who married Jemison "Jemy" McBride in 1941. They divorced in 1948 and in 1949, he married Esme O'Brien Sarnoff.[3][24]

John Henry Hammond II

The Golden Treasury of the Bible (1919)

Comfort Thoughts for Those at Home (1923)

A Trip that Kindles (1953)