Podcast: Reminiscences of a California Collector: Mrs EL Doheny, by Ellen Shaffer
This week's Podcast comes from our Spring issue of 1965, a first hand account of the life and times of one of America's greatest female collectors, Countess Carrie Estelle Doheny.
Mrs EL Doheny, a devout Roman Catholic, shared her fortune generously and lived a life of Christian service, ministering directly to the homeless and sick and weaving clothes for those in need. She founded the Edward Laurence Doheny Memorial Library at St. John's Seminary, Camarillo in memory of her husband, and in 1949 she formed the Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation which supported vulnerable people of Los Angeles, working towards a brighter future. Today the Foundation continues to support those in need with provisions of Educational, Medical and Religious funding.
The Carrie Estelle Doheny Memorial Library was built by the Doheny Foundation in memory of Countess Doheny, it opened in 1962. Her personal crest is displayed in mosaic above the front entrance.
The library supported the liberal arts curriculum of the St. John's Seminary College for four decades until the institution was closed. The collection was sold at auction in 1987 in order to fund the Doheny Endowment to support seminary functions.