[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
MRS. REBECCA ``POLLY'' GUGGENHEIM LOGAN
Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a very
special woman, Mrs. Rebecca ``Polly'' Guggenheim Logan, who passed away
earlier this month at the age of 90.
Mrs. Logan was a prominent Washingtonian and internationally
recognized philanthropist whose efforts greatly benefited humanity.
Mr. President, I am not exaggerating when I say that Polly Logan was
a woman who was admired and respected by many and that all those who
knew her are deeply saddened by her death. It was my pleasure to not
only count Mrs. Logan as a friend, but to serve her as her U.S. Senator
as she and her husband owned a large plantation just outside
Charleston, SC, where they spent their winters. I join her family and
friends in mourning the loss of this truly unique and remarkable woman
whose work touched the lives of countless individuals. I ask unanimous
consent that a copy of Mrs. Logan's obituary from the Washington Post
be inserted into the Record following my remarks.
There being no objection, the obituary was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Washington Post, Mar. 15, 1994]
Polly Guggenheim Logan Dies; Art Patron, Washington Hostess
(By Bart Barnes)
Rebecca Pollard ``Polly'' Guggenheim Logan, 90, a
philanthropist and prominent Washington hostess who also was
an artist and patron of the arts, died of heart ailments
March 11 at her home in Washington.
From the 1940s to the mid-1970s, Mrs. Logan was a leading
entertainer of high government officials, diplomats and
influential figures in the political, business and art
communities, holding parties and receptions at Firenze House,
her Tudor-style mansion on 22 acres of wooded and landscaped
grounds at 4400 Broad Branch Rd. NW.
Among Washington's grandest estates, Firenze House was the
setting for charity balls, art shows, scholarship benefits
and barbecue fund-raisers for such organziations as the
Children's Hearing and Speech Center. In the mid-1970s, it
was sold to the government of Italy for the Italian Embassy.
An artist and portrait painter, Mrs. Logan was a serious
student of art and a founder and major supporter of the Art
Barn in Rock Creek Park, a restored carriage house where the
works of painters, sculptors, photographers and artisans are
exhibited.
She was the widow of Army Col. M. Robert Guggenheim, the
heir to a family fortune in copper, who died in 1959. In 1953
and 1954, he was ambassador to Portugal. She accompanied him
to Lisbon, serving as hostess at the U.S. Embassy. In 1962,
she married John A. Logan, a Washington management
consultant. He died in 1986.
Mrs. Logan was born near Norfolk. She attended Stuart Hall
School in Staunton, Va., and Comstock School, a French
finishing school in New York. Later, she studied at Grand
Central Art School in New York and the School of the Museum
of Fine Arts in Boston.
For two years, she operated her own art studio in Boston,
then married Dr. William B. Van Lennep. They were divorced in
1937, and the next year, she married Guggenheim aboard his
175-foot yacht, which was docked in Miami.
Shortly before World War II, they settled in Washington,
living on the yacht, which was moored in Washington Channel
off Maine Avenue SW. They purchased the estate that came to
be known as Firenze House during the war, after Guggenheim
lent the yacht to the government.
Complete with a swimming pool, a bowling alley, tennis
courts and a pipe organ big enough for a cathedral, the 59-
room house at one time required an 11-person service and
maintenance staff. The Guggenheims converted one of the barns
on the estate into an art studio. She painted in oils and
water colors, specializing in portraits and still lifes. She
did much of her work in the studio at Firenze House and in a
studio at Poca Sabo, a 10,000-acre plantation 38-miles south
of Charleston, S.C., where they spent part of each winter.
Her paintings have been exhibited at the Smithsonian
Institution, in Boston and in private collections.
As a young woman, Mrs. Logan was an enthusiastic tennis
player, equestrian and wild-fowl hunter. She also enjoyed
yachting and deep-sea fishing.
As a Washington hostess, she was known for an easygoing
charm and unruffled disposition, but also a sharp and
attentive eye for detail. For years, she was hostess of an
annual Firenze House Christmas party, featuring special
lighting and decorating, caroling and dancing. As her
entertaining increased, she found less time for painting, but
she continued to raise money for various art scholarships and
organizations.
During the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, the two Johnson
daughters gave a party for their father at Firenze House
featuring the famed Texas barbecue chef Walter Jetton. So
successful was the barbecue, that Mrs. Logan made it an
annual charity fund-raiser. The Corcoran Gallery of the Art
borrowed the estate for its annual tour of private art
collections.
Mrs. Logan was a founder and charter member of the
Washington chapter of the National Society of Arts and
Letters, a member of the women's committee of the Corcoran
Gallery of Art, the women's board of the National Symphony
and the women's board of the Opera Society of Washington.
Survivors include a son from her first marriage, Richard
Van Lennep of Washington.
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