Margaret Livingston

Margaret Gresham Livingston (born August 16, 1924 in Birmingham; died May 20, 2024) was a life-long supporter and leader of the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Margaret was the daughter of Owen and Katherine Morrow Gresham. She attended the Baldwin School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and earned a bachelor of arts at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York; and a master of science in mathematics at the University of Alabama.

She met James Livingston while reigning as queen of the Birmingham Christmas Carnival in 1946. They married in 1947 at the Episcopal Church of the Advent.

Livingston became active in the Birmingham Art Club while in college. She was the founding president of the museum's Art Education Council in 1965 which established its school and community education programming. She then served as founding president of the Members Board beginning in 1970. She was elected chair of the museum's board of trustees in 1978, and served for a year as interim director between the resignation of David Farmer and the hiring of Richard Murray. She also chaired the committee on collections and as president of the Art Fund, Inc.

Livingston was a champion for enlarging the museum's collection through her influence on patrons and by her own gifts, which included the paintings "Tulip Field Near Leiden" (1910) by George Hitchcock and "Still Life with Male Figure" (c. 1650–1680) by Juriaan van Streek, as well as the sculpture "Gloria Victis!" (1872–1873) by Antonin Mercié.

Livingston also served on the boards of the Altamont School, the Junior League of Birmingham, the Linley Heflin Unit, Children's Aid Society, the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority, and on the advisory board of the Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Alabama. She was a long-time member of the Colonial Dames of Alabama and the Cadmean Circle literary club.

She was also a regionally and nationally-ranked amateur tennis player, and was inducted into the Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994.

She died in 2024 and was survived by four children, seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

References

• "Margaret Gresham Livingston" obituary (May 22, 2024) The Birmingham News
• Boettcher, Graham (May 23, 2024) "Remembering our great leader, Margaret Livingston (1924 - 2024)." Birmingham Museum of Art