About Elizabeth F. Cheney (1902-1985)

The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation was established in 1985 by Elizabeth F. Cheney shortly before her death. Miss Cheney, a life-long resident of the Chicago area, was particularly interested in artistic, cultural, and educational organizations and supported many such institutions during her lifetime.

Miss Cheney was the great grand-daughter of Chicago pioneer Philo Carpenter and the granddaughter of Henry M. Hooker, founder of one of Chicago's earliest drug stores in 1855 and founder, as well, of the Hooker Glass and Paint Manufacturing Company in 1888. After losing both her parents as a child, Elizabeth Cheney was raised by an uncle and aunt, Andrew and Mary Hooker Dole. Elizabeth's uncle, Andrew Dole, founder of the Dole Valve Company which later merged with the Eaton Company, was a director of the William Wrigley Company and served as well as Chairman of the Board of the Hooker Glass and Paint Manufacturing Company. William Wrigley worked for Mr. Henry M. Hooker and Miss Cheney enjoyed relating an interesting historical footnote: it was her grandfather, Mr. Hooker, who provided Mr. Wrigley with the mixing vats Wrigley first used to make chewing gum.

Miss Cheney was an avid collector of books and antique art objects, primarily Americana, which she displayed with the Persian carpets, Chinese jade figures and English silver inherited from her Aunt and Uncle in her home at 220 North Euclid in Oak Park. Many of these items were highly sought by museums and, in fact, she donated many pieces of her collection to them. One example is her noteworthy collection of miniature rooms designed by Eugene Kupjack, who had worked with the renowned miniaturist Mrs. James Ward Thorne, which has been given to the Baltimore Museum of Art where it has been permanently installed.

The Foundation that bears her name has continued Miss Cheney's tradition of encouraging artistic and cultural endeavor primarily in the Chicago metropolitan area.