{{Short description|American horsewoman (1926–2022)}} {{Infobox person | name = Josephine Abercrombie | image = Josephine Abercrombie.png | caption = | birth_name = Josephine Avalona Abercrombie | birth_date = {{birth date|1926|1|15}} | birth_place = Kingston, Jamaica | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|1|5|1926|1|15}} | death_place = Versailles, Kentucky, U.S. | parents = Lillie Frank and James Smither Abercrombie (married May 6, 1925) | spouse = five times divorced | children = Two sons, Jamie Abercrombie Robinson and George Anderson Robinson | occupation = thoroughbred owner and breeder; philanthropist | relatives = }}
'''Josephine Avalona Abercrombie''' (January 15, 1926 – January 5, 2022) was an American horsewoman, businesswoman, boxing promoter, philanthropist, and founder of The Lexington School in Lexington, Kentucky.
==Early life and education== Abercrombie was the daughter of Lillie Frank of Lake Charles, Louisiana<ref name="oral">{{cite web|title=Interview with Josephine Abercrombie, March 21, 2007; interviewer, Dan Kenny|url=https://nyx.uky.edu/oh/render.php?cachefile=2007OH082_HIK020_Abercrombie.xml|website=2007OH082 HIK 020 Horse Industry in Kentucky Oral History Project|publisher=Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries|accessdate=27 November 2017}}</ref> and Houston oilman James Smither Abercrombie. She rode Quarter Horses on her father's ranch in west Texas then began taking lessons to ride a saddle horse before she was ten. That led to her competing in horse shows, including the Madison Square Garden where she won twelve blue ribbons at the 1953 National Horse Show.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Demaret|first1=Kent|title=Heiress Josephine Abercrombie Becomes a Contender in the High-Stakes World of Boxing|url=http://people.com/archive/heiress-josephine-abercrombie-becomes-a-contender-in-the-high-stakes-world-of-boxing-vol-23-no-21/|website=People|accessdate=27 November 2017|date=27 May 1985}}</ref> She traveled back and forth to board school between shows in a private jet.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Boycott|first1=Rosie|title=scenes from a jolly awkward life|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/scenes-from-a-jolly-awkward-life-1352754.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220617/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/scenes-from-a-jolly-awkward-life-1352754.html |archive-date=2022-06-17 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|website=The Independent Culture|date= 17 November 1996 |accessdate=27 November 2017}}</ref> She graduated from Pine Manor Junior College<ref name= "oral" /> then Rice University in 1946.<ref name="Rice">{{cite book|last1=Fox|first1=Stephen|title=Rice University: An Architectural Tour|date=2001|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|page=72}}</ref>
==Pin Oak Stud== Abercrombie first came to the Keeneland Yearling Sale with her father in 1949, and in 1952 they built Pin Oak Farm in Woodford County, Kentucky.<ref>{{cite web|title=Josephine Abercrombie|url=http://txhof.com/josephine-abercrombie.html|website=Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame|accessdate=27 November 2017|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033103/http://txhof.com/josephine-abercrombie.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Their early success included graded stakes winners such as Make A Play, Roman Patrol and Elocutionist. By 1987, Ms. Abercrombie had purchased a new Pin Oak Farm not far from the original one, and she established a thoroughbred breeding operation with sires such as Sky Classic, Peaks and Valleys, Maria's Mon and Broken Vow.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Clabes|first1=Joseph|title=Josephine Abercrombie: Grew up on horse, lives life full of interests, experiences, giving|url=http://www.kyforward.com/josephine-abercrombie-grew-up-on-horse-lived-life-full-of-interests-experiences-giving|website=KyForward|accessdate=27 November 2017|date=22 September 2011}}</ref>
In 1995, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association recognized Pin Oak Stud as the state and national Thoroughbred Breeder of the Year. In that same year Canada's Sovereign Award went to Peaks and Valleys for Canadian Horse of the Year and Canadian Champion 3-year-old colt.<ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://pinoakstud.com/history/|website=Pin Oak Stud|accessdate=27 November 2017}}</ref> The Pin Oak Stable currently houses nearly 40 broodmares and the stallions Bob and John, Cowboy Cal, Broken Vow and Sky Classic.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pin Oak Stable (Josephine Abercrombie)|url=http://oaklawn.com/horseman-bios/bio/josephine-abercrombie-pin-oak-stable|website=Horseman Bios|publisher=Oaklawn Racing & Gaming|accessdate=27 November 2017|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201131414/http://oaklawn.com/horseman-bios/bio/josephine-abercrombie-pin-oak-stable/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Upon Josephine Abercrombie's death the stud was sold and bought by James Bernhard in November 2022.<ref name=BH_Haskell>{{cite web |last1=Ehalt |first1=Bob |title=Geaux Rocket Ride Turns Back Mage in Haskell; Favored Arabian Knight lost for the first time and settled for third. |url=https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/270349/geaux-rocket-ride-turns-back-mage-in-haskell |website=bloodhorse.com |date=July 22, 2023 |access-date=July 23, 2023}}</ref>
==Houston Boxing Association== In 1982, Abercrombie started the Houston Boxing Association and within four years was hosting nearly 50 fights in a single year. With a nutritionist, her signed boxers lived rent free in an apartment complex and trained in custom exercise facilities in Houston or traveled to her Abercrombie Cannonade Ranch near Gonzales Texas. Abercrombie provided her boxers with health-care insurance as well as profit-sharing benefits.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Applebome|first1=Peter|title=Oil Heiress Brings Elegance to the World of Boxing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/12/sports/oil-heiress-brings-elegance-to-the-world-of-boxing.html?pagewanted=all|accessdate=27 November 2017|work=The New York Times|date=12 May 1986}}</ref> Among the boxers she promoted were International Boxing Hall of Fame members Mike Tyson and Orlando Canizales as well as fellow world champions Frank Tate and Calvin Grove, and a young prospect, Lou Savarese.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.badlefthook.com/2020/5/22/21267764/look-back-destruction-young-mike-tyson-matchmaker-ron-katz-boxing-interview-news|title = A look back at the destruction of young Mike Tyson with matchmaker Ron Katz|date = 22 May 2020}}</ref>
==Philanthropy==
=== Rice University === Rice University received gifts of at least $4.6 million from Abercrombie and acknowledged their gratitude when they created the Legacy Society and included her in it.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Almond|first1=B.J.|title=75 donors honored with membership in Legacy Society|url=http://news.rice.edu/2013/09/23/75-donors-honored-with-membership-in-legacy-society/|website=Rice University News & Media|publisher=Rice University|accessdate=27 November 2017|date=23 September 2013}}</ref> Her work as a member of the Rice University Board of Trustees left a lasting impression on the campus. Her work on the building and grounds committee began in 1979,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Scardino|first1=Barrie|last2=Webb|first2=Bruce C.|title=Ephemeral City: Cite Looks at Houston|date=2003|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin|page=173}}</ref> directing patronage in supporting high quality architectural projects in new buildings, continued even after her retirement from the board in 1994.<ref name="Rice" />
=== Kentucky Equine Humane Center === Abercrombie cofounded the nonprofit Kentucky Equine Humane Center which works closely with the state's major thoroughbred racetracks (Turfway, Keeneland, Churchill Downs and Ellis Park), where owners can surrender unwanted horses directly from a training or racing stable. The Center opened in 2007 in Nicholasville, Kentucky, and no horse is turned away nor are fees required for surrendering a horse to them.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Paulick Report Staff|title=Kentucky Equine Humane Center|url=https://www.paulickreport.com/features/three-chimneys-presents-good-news-friday/good-news-friday-sponsored-by-liberation-farm-kentucky-equine-humane-center|website=Paulick Report|publisher=Blenheim Publishing LLC|accessdate=27 November 2017|date=17 November 2010}}</ref>
=== The Lexington School === One of Abercrombie's more beloved results of her philanthropy is a private K-8 school, The Lexington School, located in Lexington, Kentucky. It opened in the fall of 1959.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Paulick|first1=Ray|title=Abercrombie's Gift Of Education Keeps On Giving…And Giving|url=https://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/abercrombies-gift-of-education-keeps-on-giving-and-giving/|website=Paulick Report|publisher=Blenheim Publishing LLC|accessdate=27 November 2017|date=29 October 2015}}</ref> In honor of her 90th birthday, The Lexington School created a video that included a variety of images of her early life and the beginning of the school: "A Birthday Salute to Ms. A" (January 25, 2016).{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
==Political affiliations== Abercrombie was a strong supporter of the Republican Party but also contributed to the political campaigns of certain Kentucky Democrats.<ref>{{cite web|title=Josephine Abercrombie: Houston horsebreeder and boxing promoter; heir to Cameron Iron Works fortune|url=https://littlesis.org/person/79698-Josephine_Abercrombie/political|website=LittleSis|publisher=Public Accountability Initiative|accessdate=27 November 2017}}</ref>
== Personal life and death == Abercrombie was married and divorced five times and had two sons.
In 1950, she married Argentinian architect Fernando H. Segura (1916–2013).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?pid=164191156|title=Fernando Segura|website=Chron Obituaries|publisher=Legacy.com (orig. pub in Houston Chronicle from Apr. 13–15, 2013)|access-date=November 27, 2017}}</ref> Her two sons, Jamie Abercrombie Robinson (1957–) and George Anderson Robinson (1959–) were born in Houston where they continue to live.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-texas-100-survey-results/|title=The Texas 100: Survey Results|last1=Carroll|first1=Christine|date=September 1992|website=Texas Monthly|access-date=November 27, 2017}}</ref>
In 1964, she married Tony Bryan, a Harvard graduate and Royal Canadian Air Force pilot. He became president and CEO of J.S. Abercrombie's Cameron Iron Works in 1973 and fourteen years later they divorced.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://people.com/archive/cover-story-duchess-in-dutch-vol-38-no-10|title=Duchess in Dutch|last1=Green|first1=Michelle|date=September 7, 1992|website=People|access-date=November 27, 2017}}</ref>
She died in Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky, on January 5, 2022, aged 95.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/255951/owner-breeder-abercrombie-dies-at-95|title=Owner-Breeder Abercrombie Dies at 95|date=January 5, 2022|publisher=The Blood-Horse|access-date=October 11, 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Other Resources== * {{cite book|last1=Nicholson|first1=Patrick J.|title=Mr. Jim: The Biography of James Smither Abercrombie|url=https://archive.org/details/mrjimbiographyof0000nich|url-access=registration|date=1983|publisher=Gulf|location=Houston|isbn=9780872014046}} * {{cite web|title=Interview with Josephine Abercrombie, March 21, 2007; interviewer, Dan Kenny|url=https://nyx.uky.edu/oh/render.php?cachefile=2007OH082_HIK020_Abercrombie.xml|website=2007OH082 HIK 020 Horse Industry in Kentucky Oral History Project|publisher=Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries|accessdate=27 November 2017}} * {{cite web|title=History|url=https://pinoakstud.com/history/|website=Pin Oak Stud|accessdate=27 November 2017}} * {{cite web|title=October 2016 Member of the Month: Joesphine Abercrombie|url=https://toba.org/october-2016-member-of-the-month/|website=Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association|date=10 October 2016|accessdate=27 November 2017}} * {{cite book|last1=Rogers|first1=Karen Hess|last2=Pecht|first2=Lee|last3=Bath|first3=Alan Harris|title=Rice University: One Hundred Years in Pictures|date=2012|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|location=College Station|page=75}} * {{cite web|title=Town and Country, 1954|url=https://ricehistorycorner.com/2014/07/02/town-and-country-1954/|website=Rice History Corner: Gleanings from the Rice University Archives|publisher=Rice University|accessdate=27 November 2017|date=2 July 2014}}
==External links== * {{cite web|last1=Littlefield|first1=David|title=Abercrombie, James Smither|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fab05|website=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|accessdate=27 November 2017|date=August 23, 2016}} * {{cite web|title=Josephine Abercrombie|url=http://txhof.com/josephine-abercrombie.html|website=Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame|accessdate=27 November 2017|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033103/http://txhof.com/josephine-abercrombie.html|url-status=dead}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abercrombie, Josephine}} Category:1926 births Category:2022 deaths Category:20th-century American sportswomen Category:20th-century American women philanthropists Category:20th-century American philanthropists Category:American female equestrians Category:American socialites Category:American boxing promoters Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:Messina College alumni Category:Rice University alumni Category:People from Kingston, Jamaica