Flora Payne Whitney, also known as Flora Whitney Miller (July 27, 1897 – July 18, 1986), was a wealthy socialite,[1] art collector, and patron of the arts.
She was the eldest daughter of Harry Payne Whitney, a sportsman and heir to the Whitney family fortune, and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, heiress to a substantial part of the Vanderbilt family fortune.
Flora Payne Whitney grew up at 871 Fifth Avenue in New York City. She attended the Brearley School in New York and Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia, where she met and became close life-long friends with the artist Kay Sage.
On August 4, 1916, at "The Reefs," the Payne-Whitney "cottage" in Newport, Rhode Island, Flora made her debut. She was escorted by Quentin Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, although her father did not approve of young Roosevelt. After the United States entered World War I, Quentin enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Service, and became engaged to Flora before leaving for duty overseas. The glamorous young couple never married, since Quentin was killed in action in a dog fight with six German warplanes over Chamery, France, on July 14, 1918. Quentin’s letters to Flora, from the time they met until his death—discovered and first used by Edward Renehan in his book The Lion's Pride (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998) -- charted the course of America’s entry into the war.
After Quentin's death, Flora married Roderick Tower, an aviator who had trained with Quentin Roosevelt at Mineola air field on Long Island. Tower, a stockbroker, was son of U.S. Ambassador to Russia and Germany Charlemagne Tower, Jr..
Flora Payne Whitney and Roderick Tower were married at St. Bartholomew's Church, New York on April 20, 1920. Flora gave birth to a daughter Pamela Tower in 1921 and a son Whitney Tower in 1923. The marriage was a failure, however, due to Tower's drinking and infidelity, and they were divorced in 1925.
On February 4, 1927, in Cairo, Egypt, Flora married George Macculloch Miller III, the grandson of the founder of the forerunner of the United Hospital Fund, George Macculloch Miller. The marriage to "Cully" Miller was long and happy, and Flora had two more children, Flora (born 1928) and Leverett, born in 1931.
Flora worked closely with her mother Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in founding and endowing the Whitney Museum of Art in New York. After Gertrude's death, Flora served as President of the Museum from 1941 until 1966, and as Chairman from 1966 through 1974. Flora's daughter and granddaughter remain active in museum affairs to this day.
She died in 1986.