Family Bonds & Female Friendship: The Cone Women of North Carolina

The three Cone sisters in the large family of 13 children were close to one another and to their many brothers, all of whom lived in North Carolina. They all had strong characters, though each was quite different from the others. Claribel and Etta Cone were the world-class travelers and collectors of modern art whose collection is now mostly in The Baltimore Museum of Art, while some items came to the museum in Greensboro. The third sister, Carrie, was a homemaker and supporter of her husband, who like the Cone brothers, worked in one of the cotton mills that made the family prominent in North Carolina. Then there were the sisters-in-law, the cousins, and friends who traveled with the Cone sisters and spent leisure time together. This is the story of how, thanks to the success of their menfolk with the cotton mills, the intelligent, daring, and privileged women of the family interacted with one another and made their own contributions to life in North Carolina.