Maria Longworth Storer ― From Music and Art to Popes and Presidents

In an era when the majority of American women had few opportunities outside the home, Maria Longworth Storer played an active role in shaping her home in Cincinnati and even the global political landscape. Storer was a philanthropist and artist who established a successful international business, the Rookwood Pottery Company, in an era when women were expected to focus on running a household and rarely took on business projects. In addition to her active life as a business woman, Storer was on the frontlines of international politics. Not only did she influence American relations with the Vatican, her husband held a prominent diplomatic position, serving as ambassador to Austria-Hungary. However, in 1906, her husband was fired from his post because of Storer’s lack of discretion. The situation developed into a complex and convoluted international incident that involved several popes, secretaries of state, and presidents. Storer recovered from this humiliating incident and remained intimately involved in religious matters, giving money for religious art, supporting educational activities, publishing materials related to Catholicism, and offering unsolicited advice to church officials.
This biography of Maria Longworth Storer provides a riveting cultural history of Cincinnati at the turn of the century and a moving portrait of a pioneering woman who pushed social boundaries, engaged in national and international affairs, and had a lasting impact on the city of Cincinnati.

Constance J. Moore is the historian of the Army Nurse Corps Association. Nancy M. Broermann is manager of the Tri-State Archives and head archivist of the Ursulines of Cincinnati at St. Ursula Academy.