Meyer, Agnes Elizabeth Ernst, 1887-1970

Agnes Elizabeth Ernst, journalist, author, and lecturer, was born in New York City. In 1910 she married Eugene Meyer, a financier who purchased The Washington Post in 1933. The Meyers lived in Mount Kisco, New York, and Washington, D.C., where Agnes Meyer was active in government service and social reform.

Agnes Elizabeth Ernst Meyer (née Ernst; January 2, 1887 – September 1, 1970) was an American journalist, philanthropist, civil rights activist, and art patron. Meyer's marriage to the financier Eugene Meyer, son of Marc Eugene Meyer, provided her with wealth and status that enabled her to influence national policy, such as social welfare programs.[2] Meyer lobbied for the creation of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and for the U.S. government to provide federal aid to states for education.[3] President Lyndon Johnson credited Meyer for building public support for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which for the first time directed federal assistance towards school districts that served children from low-income families.[ Meyer was born on January 2, 1887, Ernst attended Barnard College over the objections of her father, getting her tuition from a scholarship and part-time jobs. She began cultivating lifelong friendships with intellectuals.[1][10] Her interest in education and philosophy brought her under the spell of Columbia professor John Dewey, and they would both have a major effect on American public education in later decades Ernst met her future husband Eugene Meyer, who was 11 years her senior, in an art gallery while she was at Barnard.[3] Ernst graduated in 1907,[3] then continued her studies at the Sorbonne in 1908–09, where she encountered Edward Steichen, Auguste Rodin, Constantin Brâncuși, and Gertrude and Leo Stein.[1][9] Ernst met her future husband Eugene Meyer, who was 11 years her senior, in an art gallery while she was at Barnard.[3] Ernst graduated in 1907,[3] then continued her studies at the Sorbonne in 1908–09, where she encountered Edward Steichen, Auguste Rodin, Constantin Brâncuși, and Gertrude and Leo Stein.[1][9]