Clara Bowdoin Winthrop (born March 12, 1876, Boston, Massachusetts - died March 15, 1969) [1] was a philanthropist, art collector, and relative of John Kerry, a U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate.
Winthrop was the daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Winthrop and a descendant of John Winthrop. As an adult, she was a wealthy and childless philanthropist, funding the education of John Kerry, her sister's grandson. The Boston Globe wrote:
Winthrop was a world traveler, and is known to have visited India. While on a trip to Italy, Winthrop purchased an oil painting which was thought to be a reproduction of a work by Andrea del Sarto. In 1935 she donated the painting to the All Saints' Episcopal Church in West Newbury, Massachusetts. The painting hung over the choir stalls in an enormous gilt frame for several years until it was taken down and stored in a closet, and then in the rectory's attic. In 1999, it was discovered that the painting was not an imitation, but was The Madonna and Child by del Sarto. The painting was then sold at auction by Sotheby's for $1,102,500.
The Clara B. Winthrop Trust is named for her.
John Winthrop was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of colonists from England in 1630 and served as governor for 12 of the colony's first 20 years. His writings and vision of the colony as a Puritan "city upon a hill" dominated New England colonial development, influencing the governments and religions of neighboring colonies.
James Bowdoin II was an American political and intellectual leader from Boston, Massachusetts, during the American Revolution and the following decade. He initially gained fame and influence as a wealthy merchant. He served in both branches of the Massachusetts General Court from the 1750s to the 1770s. Although he was initially supportive of the royal governors, he opposed British colonial policy and eventually became an influential advocate of independence. He authored a highly political report on the 1770 Boston Massacre that has been described by historian Francis Walett as one of the most influential pieces of writing that shaped public opinion in the colonies.
The Forbes family is one of the Boston Brahmins—a wealthy extended American family long prominent in Boston, Massachusetts. The family's fortune originates from trading opium and tea between North America and China in the 19th century plus other investments in the same period. The name descends from Scottish immigrants and can be traced back to Sir John de Forbes in Scotland in the 12th century. Family members include businessman John Murray Forbes (1813–1898), part of the first generation who accumulated wealth, and politician John Forbes Kerry.
Rosemary Isabel Forbes was an American nurse, social activist, and the mother of John Forbes Kerry, the 68th United States Secretary of State and the 2004 Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
Robert Charles Winthrop was an American lawyer and philanthropist, who served as the speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a descendant of John Winthrop.
The Boston Brahmins or Boston elite are members of Boston's traditional upper class. They are often associated with Harvard University; Anglicanism; upper-class clubs such as the Somerset in Boston, the Knickerbocker in New York City, the Metropolitan in Washington, D.C., and the Pacific-Union Club in San Francisco; and traditional Anglo-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English colonists are typically considered to be the most representative of the Boston Brahmins. They are considered White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.
Thomas Dudley was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the town's first home. He provided land and funds to establish the Roxbury Latin School, and signed Harvard College's new charter during his 1650 term as governor. Dudley was a devout Puritan who was opposed to religious views not conforming with his. In this he was more rigid than other early Massachusetts leaders like John Winthrop, but less confrontational than John Endecott.
The lieutenant governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts. The constitutional honorific title for the office is His, or Her, Honor.
The 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican acting governor Jane Swift chose not to seek a full term in office. Republican businessman Mitt Romney defeated Democratic Treasurer Shannon O'Brien.
Kerry Murphy Healey is a former U.S. politician who served as the 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 under Governor Mitt Romney. She is currently the inaugural president of the Milken Institute's Center for Advancing the American Dream in Washington, DC. Dr. Healey was previously the president of Babson College for six years. She served as a special advisor on the Romney for President Campaign.
John Forbes Kerry is an American politician and diplomat, currently serving as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. He previously served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017. An attorney and former naval officer, Kerry first drew public attention as a decorated Vietnam veteran turned anti-war activist. He went on to serve as a prosecutor and as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, before serving as United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1985 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in the 2004 election, which he lost to incumbent President George W. Bush.
Thomas Lindall Winthrop was a Massachusetts politician who served as the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1826 to 1833. He was elected both a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1813 and a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1837.
Nicola Dickson "Niki" Sauvage Tsongas is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 2007 to 2019. She held the seat formerly held by her husband, the late Paul Tsongas, for the district numbered as Massachusetts's 5th congressional district from 2007 to 2013 and as Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district from 2013 to 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. In August 2017 Tsongas announced that she would not seek another term in the November 2018 election.
Francis Winthrop Palfrey (1831–1889) was an American historian and Civil War officer.
The 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in Massachusetts on November 6, 2012, Democrat Elizabeth Warren defeated incumbent Republican Senator Scott Brown. This election was held concurrently with the U.S. presidential election and elections to the U.S. Senate in other states, as well as elections to the House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Clara Endicott Sears (1863–1960) was a New England author, preservationist, and philanthropist.
Katherine Marlea Clark is an American politician who has served as the United States representative for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district since 2013, and as the assistant House Democratic leader since 2021, making her the fourth-highest-ranking House Democrat. Her district includes many of Boston's northern and western suburbs, such as Medford, Framingham, Woburn, Waltham, and Clark's hometown of Melrose. A member of the Democratic Party, Clark was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2008 to 2011, and of the Massachusetts Senate from 2011 to 2013.
John Winthrop Sears was an American lawyer, historian and politician. His great-great-grandfather was David Sears II. He was the grandson of seven time National tennis champion Richard Dudley Sears and the first cousin once removed of Eleonora Sears. Sears was an alumnus of St. Mark's School, Harvard College during which he spent a year as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and Harvard Law School.
Harriet Russell Hart was an American politician who served on the Lynn, Massachusetts School Committee and the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She was the third woman elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Beatrice Whitney Van Ness (1888–1981) was an American painter.