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Marjorie Merriweather Post

American businesswoman (1887–1973)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ450160 ↗
Source-derived summary

Marjorie Merriweather Post (March 15, 1887 – September 12, 1973) was an American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist. She was the daughter of C. W. Post and the owner of General Foods Corporation. For much of Post's life, she was known as the wealthiest woman in the United States.

Post used much of her fortune to collect art, particularly Imperial-era Russian art, much of which is now on display at Hillwood, the museum which was her estate in Washington, D.C. She is also known for her mansion, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Early life

Marjorie Merriweather Post was born in Springfield, Illinois, the only child of C. W. Post and Ella Letitia Merriweather. At age 27, following her father's death in 1914, she became the owner of the rapidly growing Postum Cereal Company, founded in 1895. She inherited a $20 million fortune.

Post lived in Battle Creek, Michigan from ages 3 to 14. She then moved to Washington, D.C. to attend the Mount Vernon Seminary and College (now the George Washington University's Mount Vernon Campus). She maintained a close lifelong relationship with her alma mater and served as its first alumna trustee.

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The public source identifies “Marjorie Merriweather Post” as american businesswoman (1887–1973). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Marjorie, Merriweather and Post.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1887, 1973, 1914, 1895—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1887-03-15. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Marjorie, Merriweather and Post providing the first useful test.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Marjorie Merriweather Post”, the useful work is to connect “american businesswoman (1887–1973)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q450160. VIAF identifies the subject as 28762374. The Library of Congress control number is n94058204. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1887, 1973, 1914 and 1895.

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This entry incorporates text from “Marjorie Merriweather Post” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.