SHE HAD A MARVELOUS TIME...


Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names

And blew through the money on the boys and the ballet

And losin' on card game bets with Dalí


Sounds like a pretty fun gal. Taylor Swift wrote The Last Great American Dynasty about Rebekah Harkness, socialite and Bitch Pack member who shocked society by marrying the heir to Standard Oil. Once one of the wealthiest women in America, Harkness partied and patronized, much to the chagrin of her contemporaries. Rebekah Harkness would have been forgotten had the legend that is T- Swift not brought her back to life in song form.


Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1915, Rebekah West grew up the daughter of a wealthy midwest family. Her parents left the care of their children to nannies. Rebekah attended two schools for girls as a young woman. She and her friends called themselves the Bitch Pack. Rebekah did not abide by society's rules for proper young debutants. She spiked the punch at her sister's coming out ball with mineral oil - ruining everything indeed.


Rebekah took dance and studied the piano. She married, as society ladies must. The marriage lasted seven years and produced two children. In 1947 she met William Harkness, heir to the Standard Oil fortune. As with wealth and class in America there is rich and there is RICH - Rebekah, the former, Bill, the latter. Rebekah's family fortune seemed a pittance compared to Bill's family holdings. New York society women found Rebecca to be a bit hayseed - where as she was St Louis's version of those very ladies. She appeared in a 1956 Vogue spread about New York City society, alongside Babe Paley.


When Bill Harkness died, Rebekah inherited the bulk of his wealth. She patronized dance, donating large sums to the Joffrey Ballet. When they refused to rename themselves in their patroness' honor she founded her own ballet company. She built a school and home for the dancers, and refurbished a theater. The ballet closed in 1970. The money was starting to disappear fast. 


Bill and Rebecca bought a home on the Rhode Island coast they called Holiday House. They often entertained there. Rebekah made Holiday House her permanent home after Bill's death. She held lavish parties there with famous names of the day. Supposedly for one party she filled the pool with champagne - for swimming. Another story says after a neighbor complained about her being loud she stole his poodle and dyed the dog green. Rebecca Harkness died of stomach cancer, June 17, 1982. Salvador Dali designed her urn. Whatever she may have ruined, Rebecca Harkness always had a marvelous time.


SOURCES :

Rebekah Harkness. Wikipedia.


FURTHER MEDIA :

The Last Great American Dynasty ~ Taylor Swift

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