Marylou Whitney - Other Interests

Other Interests

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming is tremendously important to Whitney, and she continuously supports The Whitney Gallery of Western Art. She has given over $1 million to the Museum since C.V. Whitney's death to continue to expand the Museum that he initially built.

The St. Augustine area in Florida is also of interest to Whitney, as C.V. Whitney founded Marineland, and she continues to financially support The Whiney/Hendrickson Marine Lab in honor of her late husband.

In addition to her devotion to so many worthwhile organizations, Whitney enjoys many other activities. She is an active spectator of polo and presented the Whitney Cup to Prince Charles and Geoffrey Kent's Polo Team at Cirincester on June 24, 1990. She continues to present the Whitney Cup at Whitney Field in Saratoga Springs each year.

Whitney was the largest private donor to the 1980 Olympic Games held in Lake Placid.

Whitney is also a great adventurer. She led an expedition with Norman Vaughan to the South Pole in 1995. At that time, Colonel Vaughan was the only man alive who was on Admiral Byrd's first expedition to the south pole. His wish was to return there on his 90th birthday. They spent three and one half weeks in the Antarctic pitching their small tents each night under grueling conditions before reaching the South Pole. The United States Military at the South Pole Base treated them royally and gave them the American flag that was flying over the South Pole for their planned excursion to the North Pole several months later. They flew that flag over the North Pole with frostbitten fingers and polar bears headed toward them. It made history as the first time the same United States flag was flown over both poles, and the first time a female had ever accomplished both expeditions within a four month period. Whitney has always said that she will never regret having completed the adventure, although her fingers were numb and black upon her return home.

Whitney also has an interest in dog sled racing. She has flown from Anchorage to Nome monitoring her dogs and her sponsored musher, Martin Buser, along the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race numerous times. She was has been known to rough it with the other spectators and thoroughly enjoys the dogs and the people.