philanthropist civic worker Arts patron Tanglewood's founder
Gertrude Robinson-Smith was born in Mamaroneck, New York, United States the daughter of Charles Robinson-Smith, a corporation lawyer and financier, who added the name "Robinson" to his too common patronymic of "Smith, " and of Jeannie Porter Steele, a prominent socialite who could trace her ancestry back to John Steele, general in the Revolutionary War, and to Richard Mather, early settler of Massachusetts.
Robinson-Smith was educated at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn and at the Brearley School in New York.
Through her upbringing, she was made conscious that civic work was the vocation, duty, and privilege of well-to-do families. An early undertaking was her work for the Vacation Saving Stamp Fund, which became the American Woman's Association, of which she was president from 1911 to 1928. During World War I, she associated herself with Edith Wharton in the war-relief effort, and together they raised $70, 000 for surgical motor units to be sent to France. After visiting the front lines and flying over the combat zone, Robinson-Smith created the Ice Flotilla Committee, which raised $100, 000 for ice-making machines needed by advance field hospitals. For these contributions she was awarded the French Legion of Honor. In 1922, with the assistance of Anne Morgan, Robinson-Smith raised $8 million to buy land in New York City for a clubhouse for businesswomen. The Great Depression thwarted completion of this project, and the building became the Henry Hudson Hotel. Always interested in French culture and arts, Smith was later instrumental in organizing the French Theater at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel in New York, which remained active from 1937 until World War II. During World War I, Robinson-Smith's father had bought a 115-acre estate in Glendale, near Stockbridge, Massachussets, which became the family summer home. This locale was to have much bearing on her most important undertaking. In a corner of her father's estate Robinson-Smith built her own cottage, which she named "The Residence. " In this house took place many of the negotiations leading to the founding of Tanglewood. In May 1934 the conductor and composer Henry Kimball Hadley was looking for a suitable place to give summer concerts. A correspondent of the Springfield Republican suggested that he speak to Robinson-Smith, who promised to help. Rounding up a committee of sixty-four residents of Stockbridge and the vicinity, she formed the Berkshire Symphony Festival, Inc. , of which she was president until 1955. Two months later, on Aug. 23, 1934, the first of three concerts was given in a large horse-show ring in a farm situated between Lenox and Stockbridge. The orchestra, conducted by Hadley, was made up of sixty-five members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The festival drew altogether 5, 000 people and ended with only a small deficit. The following summer Robinson-Smith enlarged and improved the festival. "It is high time that America has its own Salzburg, " she said. A larger orchestra, comprising eighty-five players from the New York Philharmonic and other orchestras, was engaged, and a huge tent was rented. Admission prices were raised. The governors of Massachusetts and Rhode Island attended the opening concert, and the festival drew an audience of 9, 000. At this point Hadley, whose choice of repertoire had been criticized and who was in poor health, resigned. The festival committee decided that instead of annually hiring musicians, they would engage an entire well-established orchestra. They approached the Boston Symphony Orchestra's manager, George E. Judd, and Robinson-Smith herself spoke to Serge Koussevitzky, the orchestra's conductor. Envisioning the opportunity to found a music center and school, Koussevitzky agreed to bring the entire Boston Symphony Orchestra to Stockbridge for the 1936 summer season. The site, however, had to be changed, and Margaret Emerson offered the use of her 500-acre estate "Holmwood, " situated between Stockbridge and Lenox. A larger tent was rented, and the third festival took place under Koussevitzky's direction with much broader press coverage. Koussevitzky soon sought to expand the festival by establishing a school, for which a building would have to be erected. The search for a permanent site was unexpectedly solved when Mrs. Gorham Brooks made a gift of her estate "Tanglewood" to Koussevitzky, who in turn offered it to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Foreseeing a loss of control by the Berkshire Symphony Festival Committee, Robinson-Smith raised objections. After much discussion, a contract was drawn up between the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the festival committee, giving the latter the right to manage the concerts on the Tanglewood estate, provided that the committee cover the cost of building and maintaining a "suitable structure. " The 1937 festival again took place under a tent, at Tanglewood. During the opening concert (which was broadcast for the first time) a thunderstorm broke out; the tent leaked and musicians and audience were drenched. Jumping at the opportunity, Smith told the audience during intermission: "This storm has proven conclusively the need for a shed. We must raise $100, 000 to build it. " Within a few minutes $30, 000 had been pledged. A follow-up campaign raised enough funds to erect the shed, which was dedicated on June 16, 1938. In 1940 the Berkshire Music Center opened.
Other ambitious projects were undertaken by Koussevitzky, such as the building of a theater-concert hall. The outbreak of World War II created many difficulties for the festival, and Robinson-Smith became concerned about its fate. Pressure was being applied to have the Boston Symphony placed in charge of all activities at Tanglewood. Although Robinson-Smith fought bitterly to keep the festival under the control of the organization that she had created, in 1945 ownership of the shed and management of the summer concerts were transferred to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Berkshire Symphony Festival Committee was dissolved in 1955. Robinson-Smith never lost interest in Tanglewood, nor was it forgotten that she had been responsible for its creation. A plaque apposed on the north end of the shed reads: "In gratitude to the trustees and friends of the Berkshire Symphony Festival for their promotion of music in the Berkshiress under the leadership of Gertrude Robinson-Smith and for the gift of this shed. " On her eightieth birthday, she was the guest of honor at a special concert conducted by Charles Munch, conductor of the orchestra at that time. A few months before her death, Robinson-Smith was appointed to the advisory committee of the National Culture Center in Washington, D. C. She also worked on her autobiography, but it was never published. Although not a musician, she knew and entertained the greatest composers, conductors, and soloists of her time.
the American Woman's Association
Through her upbringing, she was made conscious that civic work was the vocation, duty, and privilege of well-to-do families.
She fell in love with a French aviator, who died in a plane crash, and subsequently she never married.
She died in New York City.
