Mary Reynolds Babcock

Mary Reynolds Babcock was born in 1908 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the second child to tobacco tycoon R. J. Reynolds and his wife Katharine Smith Reynolds. She was preceded by her brother R.J. "Dick" Reynolds Jr; her younger siblings Nancy Susan Reynolds and Zachary Smith Reynolds followed in 1910 and 1911 respectively. The family lived at 666 W Fifth St in Winston-Salem in a palatial Queen Anne mansion, designed by architect George Franklin Barber. Fifth street was labeled as "Millionaire's Row" due to the number of Reynolds family members, high-ups in R.J. Reynolds tobacco company, and other tobacco or textile industrialists who lived there.[1] The house was located conveniently to the offices of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco at the intersection of Fifth and Main.[2]

While R.J. Reynolds worked regularly to continue building his tobacco empire, Katharine Reynolds fulfilled the role of a wealthy Southern wife through managing the household and regularly entertaining fellow Winston-Salem socialites. However, she also deviated from this role through her participation in business and local politics, joining the ranks of the New Women of the era. Prior to her marriage in 1905, she studied business at the State Normal and Industrial School in Greensboro, NC, although she would leave Normal and receive her bachelor's degree from Sullins College in Bristol, Virginia. After graduating, Katharine worked as R.J.'s stenographer and secretary, and he taught her to navigate the stock market. Through purchasing her own stocks, she was able to develop her own independent income; at a time when only 5% of men owned stock, and even less women, she was taking in $10,000 over a period of less than eighteen months.[3] Her management and money skills allowed her to undertake extensive civic duties, such as the creation of a local YMCA chapter, in which she served as President, and Junior League. Her independent wealth, alongside that of her husband, allowed for her to participate extensively in philanthropy, donating generously to a variety of causes such as the creation of hospitals and orphanages.[4]

Reynolda Estate Era

In addition to her familial, societal, and civic responsibilities, around 1905 Katharine Reynolds, with the full financial support of her husband, began to design her own estate of Reynolda. After buying over 1,000 acres of land north of Winston-Salem, she worked extensively with architects, landscape artists, and agriculture specialists to create not just a private house for her family, but also a self-sufficient model farm for exhibiting and educating on the most modern agriculture techniques. In the style of an English estate, a village with cottages provided for white workers was built; another community called "Five Row" was also built for black estate workers.[5]

Front facade of Reynolda House showing the forecourt garden.

As a child, Mary Reynolds went to a small private school within Reynolda Village on the estate, and eventually went on to Salem Academy to further her education. This was later followed by schooling at Miss Wright's School, a girl's finishing school in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.[6] After graduating she went to Paris and studied art, a passion of hers.[7]

Mary Reynolds Babcock ca. 1930

Mary Reynolds Babcock married Charles Henry Babcock, an investment banker from Philadelphia, and had four children. Charles Babcock was an influential businessman and a public-minded citizen whose influence continues to be felt throughout the state of North Carolina and especially the Piedmont in the twenty-first century.

In 1936, her father, R.J. Reynolds, left her an inheritance of thirty million dollars. At this point in her life, she was considered to be one of the wealthiest women in the world. With this money, she made many donations to various causes with a focus on local education.

Mary Reynolds Babcock and her husband Charles Babcock

Babcock died of stomach cancer in 1953. She died in New York City and was buried in Winston-Salem at the Reynolds family plot in Salem Cemetery.

Mary Reynolds Babcock started the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, which was established in 1933 after the death of her brother, Zachary Smith Reynolds. It had a broad mandate to support the 'betterment of mankind and furtherance of the public welfare'. Upon her death in 1953, her will provided twelve million dollars for the establishment of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation,[8] a philanthropic organization for the benefit of North Carolinians, particularly to "help people and places to move out of poverty and achieve greater social and economic justice."[9]

By the 1960s, both foundations were controlled by interlocking boards composed primarily of Reynolds family members, including Charles (Charlie) H. Babcock, Mary Reynolds's husband; R.J. Reynolds Jr.; and Anne Reynolds Forsyth, Zachary Smith Reynold's daughter from his first marriage.[10] In the 1960s, the Reynolds' wealth had passed into the hands of a second generation of family members who were far removed from the political and economic struggles of the workplace. They played no role in the day-to-day management of Reynolds Tobacco. They took their cues instead from the culture of mid-twentieth-century American philanthropy, which puts its faith in social engineering and the use of private wealth to advance the common welfare.[10] Some examples include Alliance for Appalachia, Blueprint NC, and Federation of Child Care Centers of Alabama.[9]

Charles and Mary Reynolds Babcock donated 350 acres from the family estate for the relocation of Wake Forest University. From 1952 to 1956, 14 buildings were constructed on the Winston-Salem campus. The school was officially moved to Winston-Salem in the summer of 1956.[11]