Elizabeth Paepcke (28 August 1902 – June 1994) was a philanthropist and promoter of

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Moun ...

. She was born near

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Early life

During her father's tenure at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, Elizabeth was enrolled at

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (also known as Lab or Lab Schools and abbreviated as UCLS though the high school is nicknamed U-High) is a private, co-educational day Pre-K and K-12 school in Chicago, Illinois. It is affiliated with ...

. She attended until she entered a boarding school for girls in Virginia ( Foxcroft School) at the age of fourteen. Later Paepcke studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Promotion of Aspen

Paepcke is remembered as the Grand Dame of

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

due to her love and promotion of the small mining town into the skiing destination it later became. Walter and Elizabeth founded the

Aspen Music Festival and School The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, the ...

in 1949, and

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

served as the festival's director until 1954 when he appointed baritone

Mack Harrell Mack Kendree Harrell, Jr. (October 8, 1909 — January 29, 1960) was an American operatic and concert baritone vocalist who was regarded as one of the greatest American-born lieder singers of his generation. Growing up Harrell was born in ...

to take over. The Aspen Skiing Corporation was founded in 1946, and the city quickly became a well-known resort.

hosted the FIS World Championships in 1950. Paepcke with her husband Walter also played an important role in bringing the Goethe Bicentennial Convocation to Aspen in 1949. It was an event held in a newly designed tent by the architect

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...

. Due to the Paepcke's promotion and influence Aspen became an internationally known

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

and cultural center, home of the

. The skiing haven continued to grow with the development of three additional ski areas,

Buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most m ...

(1958),

Aspen Highlands Aspen Highlands is a skiing mountain in Aspen, Colorado. It is famous for the Highland Bowl, which provides what some people consider some of the most intense, wild, and fun skiing in the state. The Aspen Skiing Company operates Aspen Highlands. ...

(1958), and Snowmass (1967). In 1968, Paepcke donated a 25-acre property to establish the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies.

Family

Elizabeth Paepcke was the daughter of William Albert Nitze, a chairman of Romance Languages at the

., and Anna Sophia Hilken. She was married to

Walter Paepcke Walter Paepcke (June 29, 1896 – April 13, 1960) was a U.S. industrialist and philanthropist prominent in the mid-20th century. A longtime executive of the Chicago-based Container Corporation of America, Paepcke is best noted for his founding of ...

, and she was the sister of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

diplomatic figure

Paul Nitze Paul Henry Nitze (January 16, 1907 – October 19, 2004) was an American politician who served as United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department. He is best kn ...

Later years

Elizabeth loved Aspen's cultural richness, but she was upset when Aspen succumbed to the low life that undermined the true heart and soul of her beloved community. When interviewed late in her life, she explained how she felt, "Aspen can't be swallowed by the avariciousness of those who don't understand the reason for its existence" She died in Aspen from head injuries resulting from a fall.

References

External links

Guide to the Elizabeth H. Paepcke Papers 1889-1994
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paepcke, Elizabeth 1902 births 1994 deaths People from Baltimore People from Aspen, Colorado University of Chicago Laboratory Schools alumni School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Colorado 20th-century American philanthropists