Musser, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Morrell Willet was born on January 9, 1911 in Brookline, Massachusetts, the daughter of Seymour and Grace Morrell Willet. She was a member of the first graduating class of Sarah Lawrence College in New York City, after which she taught English at her prep school alma mater, the Beaver Country Day School. in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

She married John Musser in 1935 and they settled in St. Paul, Minnesota, where John worked as an official of the Weyerhaeuser Company. They had three children: daughters Susan (Halby) and Lee (Dominick) and son Robert.

Musser is most widely known for her energetic leadership in a variety of arts and cultural institutions, as well as in social and philanthropic organizations. She was closely involved in Planned Parenthood and in the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research (Collegeville, Minn.). She was also a board member and significant benefactor of both the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and its venue, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. But she was perhaps best known for her dedicated work during the 1960s-70s in leading local efforts to preserve the old Federal Courts Building in St. Paul, later renamed the Landmark Center. Musser died on December 31, 2001.

From the guide to the Elizabeth Musser papers., 1964-1992., (Minnesota Historical Society)