[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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