Mildred Westervelt Warner, 1893-1974

Mildred Warner.jpg

Title

Mildred Westervelt Warner, 1893-1974

Subject

Businesswomen
Young Men's Christian Association (Tuscaloosa, AL)

Description

A portrait of Mildred Westervelt Warner by Alphaeus Philemon Cole, 1876-1988, a noted New York artist, that was presented to the YMCA on November 1, 1967, and hangs in the lobby of the central building. It hangs next to a portrait of her husband, Herbert David Warner, in honor of their many contributions of time, effort, and money to the YMCA.

Mildred Warner was the daughter of Herbert Eugene and Emma Neilson Westervelt. She was born in Mechanicville, NY on July 2, 1893, went to South Bend Indiana High School and graduated from Lasell Junior College near Boston, MA. She had one sister, Helene Westervelt Thielens. On July 17,1915, she married Herbert David Warner. They had four children, David Warner who died at 15 in a swimming accident, Jack Warner, Helene Warner Hibbard, and Joan Warner Van Zele.

She lived in Illinois until 1929 when she came to Tuscaloosa when the mill and office operations of the Gulf States Paper Corporation were consolidated and moved here. Her father was the founder of the Gulf States Paper Corporation and she and her husband also worked for Gulf States. She served as the President of the corporation starting in 1939 after the death of her father.

In addition to her skills as a business woman she also was active in community affairs including heading the YMCA Citizens Committee for a new central building and serving as a trustee of Sweetbriar College in Virginia.

She was installed in the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame at Judson College in Marion in 1984. In 2002, she was inducted posthumously into the Tuscaloosa County Civic Hall of Fame by the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. She and her husband, Herbert Warner, were named as "Pillars of the Community" by the Community Foundation of West Alabama in 2013.

Creator

Alphaeus Philemon Cole

Source

YMCA

Date

1967

Contributor

Elizabeth Bradt (Description)

Type

Painting

Identifier

961

Coverage

Tuscaloosa (AL)

Original Format

Painting