Payson, Joan Whitney, 1903-1975

Joan Whitney Payson (February 5, 1903 – October 4, 1975) was an American heiress, businesswoman, philanthropist, patron of the arts and art collector, and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was also co-founder and majority owner of Major League Baseball's New York Mets baseball franchise, and was the first woman to own a major league team in North America without inheriting it.

Joan Whitney was born in New York City, the daughter of William Payne Whitney and Helen Julia Hay. She attended Miss Chapin's School, then entered Barnard College with the class of 1925. A sports enthusiast who was a minority shareholder in the New York Giants Major League Baseball club, she and her husband opposed moving the team to San Francisco in 1957. After the majority of the shareholders approved the move, Mrs. Payson sold her stock and began working to get a replacement team for New York City. They teamed up with M. Donald Grant, who had represented the Paysons on the Giants board and had been the only board member to oppose the Giants' move, to win a New York franchise in the Continental League, a proposed third major league. The National League responded by awarding an expansion team to Payson's group, which became the New York Mets. She served as the team's president from 1962 to 1975.

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