{{Short description|American artist and historian (1929–2018)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata|fetchwikidata=ALL|dateformat=mdy}}

'''Victoria Donohoe''' (March 21, 1929 – November 21, 2018) was an artist, art critic and historian who wrote for papers<ref name="Cook"/> such as ''The Catholic Standard & Times''<ref name="Rosemont"/><ref>{{cite web |title=The Catholic Standard and Times 17 June 1960 — The Catholic News Archive |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=cst19600617-01.2.40&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------- |website=thecatholicnewsarchive.org |access-date=14 May 2024}}</ref> and ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. She has been described by editor Gabriel Escobar of the ''Inquirer'' as "indomitable" and having "an aura of legend". She did not drive a car or own a television, preferring to travel by public transit and avoid the use of telephones, answering machines, and computers. Throughout her career, she would file her columns in person at the ''Inquirer'' suburban newsroom in Conshohocken, typing them from her handwritten notes. She published over 1,000 articles in the ''Inquirer'' over 50 years between 1962 and 2012.<ref name="Cook">{{cite news |last1=Cook |first1=Bonnie L. |title=Victoria Donohoe, 89, longtime Inquirer art critic and Narberth historian |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/victoria-donohoe-89-longtime-inquirer-art-critic-and-narberth-historian-20181127.html |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=27 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Victoria Donohoe was born March 21, 1929.<ref name="McConaghy" /> She lived at her parents' home in Narberth, Pennsylvania for much of her life. Her father Daniel J. Donohoe was an artist and illustrator who worked for the ''Evening Bulletin''. Her mother, Ann (O'Neill) Donohoe,<ref name="Daniel">{{cite news |title=Daniel Donohoe was artist and illustrator, 83 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer/7204867/ |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=12 October 1973|page=62 }}</ref> taught art classes at Moore College of Art and Design.<ref name="Cook"/>

Victoria attended high school at Mater Misericordiae Academy (now Merion Mercy Academy), a Catholic college preparatory school for girls in Merion, Pennsylvania, in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.<ref name="LMHS">{{cite web |title=Annual Meeting & Victoria Donohoe Celebration |url=https://lowermerionhistory.org/events/annual-meeting-victoria-donohoe-celebration/ |website=Lower Merion Historical Society |date=2024}}</ref> She received her bachelor’s degree from Rosemont College in 1950, as well as a teaching certificate. She taught art at Rosemont while earning her Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name="Rosemont">{{cite web |title=Collection: VICTORIA DONOHOE PAPERS &#124; ArchivesSpace Public Interface |url=https://arcs.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/22 |website=Rosemont College |access-date=14 May 2024}}</ref><ref name="Weitzman">{{cite web |title=Donohoe, Victoria &#124; Stuart Weitzman School of Design |url=https://www.design.upenn.edu/architectural-archives/collections/donohoe-victoria |website=University of Pennsylvania}}</ref> She then went to Florence, Italy, where she attended Pope Pius XII Institute-Graduate School of Fine Arts for Women<ref name="LMHS" /> at Villa Schifanoia<ref name="RCL">{{cite web |title=Research Guides and Class Pages: Archives: Foreign Programs |url=https://research.dom.edu/archives/foreignprograms |website=Rebecca Crown Library, Domiican University |language=en}}</ref> in 1953.<ref name="Cook" />

==Career== Donohoe wrote over 1,000 articles about art and architecture for the ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' over a fifty-year period from 1962-2012. Described as "grace personified", she wrote both perceptively and frankly about the artists, works and events she reviewed, but phrased her criticisms gently. "Her insightful but honest interpretations of their work earned her respect throughout the art world."<ref name="Cook"/>

She was active in community events such as Narberth Borough Council meetings, and served on the Committee of Sacred Liturgy of the Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese.<ref name="McConaghy">{{cite web |title=Obituary for Victoria Donohoe at McConaghy Funeral Home, Ltd. |url=https://www.mcconaghyfuneralhome.com/obituary/victoria-donohoe |website=McConaghy Funeral Home |language=en}}</ref> In addition to the ''Inquirer'', she wrote for ''The Catholic Standard & Times''.<ref name="Rosemont"/>

Donohoe was active in local historical preservation activities, resulting in the creation of historical markers by the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission in honor of NFL commissioner Bert Bell (1998) and John Dickinson, who drafted the Articles of Confederation (2001). In 2003, Donohoe helped to obtain registration for Narbrook Park Historic District in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="Cook"/> She was a co-author of ''Narbrook Park: A Garden City Experiment'' (2015).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=Nancy |last2=Committee |first2=Narbrook Park Centennial |last3=Donohoe |first3=Victoria |last4=Reed |first4=Elaine |title=Narbrook Park: A Garden City Experiment |date=June 20, 2015 |publisher=Narbrook Park Improvement Association |isbn=9780692736616}}</ref>

Victoria Donohoe died of pneumonia on November 21, 2018.<ref name="Cook" /><ref name="McConaghy"/> In her will, she left both a financial gift and a manuscript about local Narberth History to the Lower Merion Historical Society. The Society is preparing her manuscript for publication.<ref name="LMHS"/>

==Awards and honors== * 1985, honorary doctorate in fine arts, Villanova University<ref name="Cook"/> * 2013, Artists Equity Award, Philadelphia Tri-State Artists Equity Association<ref name="Cook"/><ref>{{cite web |title=ABOUT &#124; Artists Equity Philadelphia/Tri-state |url=https://www.artistsequity.org/about |website=ArtistsEquity2021 |language=en}}</ref>

==Archival collections== * [https://www.design.upenn.edu/architectural-archives/collections/donohoe-victoria Victoria Donohoe Collection], Stuart Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania<ref name="Weitzman"/> * [https://arcs.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/22 Victoria Donohoe Papers], Rosemont College Archives <ref name="Rosemont"/> * [https://discover.hsp.org/Record/ead-4581 Victoria Donohoe Family History Collection], Historical Society of Pennsylvania

==References== {{reflist}} {{authority control}}

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Category:1929 births Category:2018 deaths Category:American women journalists Category:American art critics Category:American women art critics Category:Rosemont College alumni Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:20th-century American women writers Category:People from Narberth, Pennsylvania