Abigail Folger

Abigail Anne Folger (August 11, 1943 ? August 9, 1969) was an American coffee heiress, debutante, socialite and member of the prominent United States Folger family. She is the great-great-granddaughter of J. A. Folger, the founder of Folgers Coffee.

Early life and becoming a debutante

Born in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, August 11, 1943. Her parents were Peter Folger, Chairman and President of the Folger Coffee Company, and Inez Mejia, the daughter of a prestigious California land grant family. Her Catholic parents divorced in 1952 when Abigail was still young, after her mother ended the marriage on the grounds of extreme cruelty. In 1960 her father married again, to his 34 year old private secretary Beverly.

Related Topics:
San Francisco - California - Wednesday - August 11 - 1943 - Peter Folger - Chairman - President - Catholic - 1952 - 1960

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Growing up in San Francisco, Abigail was raised in the closed tradition of San Francisco society. As a young girl she was interested in art, books, and poetry. She spent much of her time painting and writing poetry when she had the time to do so. Besides her interests in painting and poetry, Abigail was very talented in playing the piano. Close friends and family called her 'Gibby'.

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Gibby Folger attended the Santa Catalina School for Girls in Monterey, California, near Carmel. While there, she was well known and well liked as a model student who graduated with honors in June 1961. She then matriculated at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the fall of 1961. During her stay at Radcliffe she became an active member of the college's Gilbert and Sullivan Players, a musical theatre group. Abigail starred in two of its productions, starting with The Sorcerer in April 1963 where she played the part of one of the town's villagers. In December 1963 she starred in The Gondoliers as the pretty Contandine. Gibby graduated with honors from Radcliffe College in 1964.

Related Topics:
Santa Catalina School for Girls - Monterey, California - Carmel - Radcliffe College - Cambridge - Massachusetts - 1961 - Gilbert and Sullivan - The Sorcerer - 1963 - The Gondoliers - 1964

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While a freshman in college she became a debutante on December 21, 1961 at the Saint Francis Hotel in San Francisco, where she made her 'official' debut into San Francisco's high society. Her debutante ball was one of the highlights of the social season with Folger wearing a bright yellow Christian Dior gown, that she had purchased in Paris, France, the previous summer.

Related Topics:
Debutante - Saint Francis Hotel - Christian Dior - Paris - France

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After graduating Radcliffe, she enrolled in the fall of 1964 at Harvard University (also in Cambridge, MA), where she did graduate work and received a degree in Art History. After graduating in the spring of 1967, she took a 40-hour a week job at the University of California Art Museum in Berkeley, California as a publicity director. While employed there, Abigail was said to have done a beautiful job organizing the fine art museum council.

Related Topics:
Harvard University - Cambridge, MA - Art History - University of California - Art - Museum - Berkeley

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