Indiana Woman’s Philanthropy Was a ‘Carefully Constructed Tapestry’
By M.J. Prest
Contributor
March 3, 2005 | Read Time: 4 minutes
Sally Reahard, an heiress to Eli Lilly stock and a lifelong philanthropist, never forgot the time she spent
as a young woman in Charleston, S.C.
While there, she developed a strong and immediate affinity for the city’s environmental and historic-preservation efforts, a connection that lasted for the next 60 years, despite the fact that Ms. Reahard never returned to the state after moving back to Indianapolis in 1940.
When Ms. Reahard died in 2003, at age 95, she left $94.6-million to charity, including more than $19-million to benefit organizations in Charleston.
The Nature Conservancy in Arlington, Va., received the bulk of the money in her will, with a $70-million gift. Ms. Reahard’s bequest enabled the conservancy to purchase thousands of acres of land in Indiana, including wetlands in the northern part of the state, for conservation.
In addition, Ms. Reahard gave
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$5.5-million to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, where she had been a trustee, for the museum’s European-art galleries.
Gifts to support Charleston included:
- $15-million to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in Washington, earmarked for Drayton Hall, the oldest preserved plantation house in Charleston.
- $3-million for the Historic Charleston Foundation for its endowment.
- And $1.1-million for the Lowcountry Open Land Trust.
Supporting Many Causes
Eugene Wilkins, a lawyer and longtime friend of Ms. Reahard who served as executor of her estate, says Ms. Reahard took delight in supporting an array of causes.
Beneficiaries over her lifetime included the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Audubon Society, the Charleston Museum, the Indianapolis Zoo, Meals On Wheels, Planned Parenthood, the Preservation Society of Charleston, and the South Carolina Historical Society.
“Her map of philanthropy was like a carefully constructed tapestry,” Mr. Wilkins says.
Ms. Reahard’s father was a classmate and early business partner of Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical tycoon. Growing up, she admired Mr. Lilly’s philanthropic philosophy of giving to help people, not to build buildings in his honor, Mr. Wilkins says.
Ms. Reahard disliked attention, never married, and for the last several decades of her life was a recluse in her hometown of Indianapolis, he says.
“Sally liked playing a backstage role,” says Mr. Wilkins. “She didn’t want credit or her name carved in stone.”
George McDaniel, director of Charleston’s Drayton Hall, says that if Ms. Reahard had faith in an organization’s work, her generosity was boundless. She would donate to anyone with a compelling need, he says, be it Little Leaguers deprived of new uniforms or charitable organizations whose endowments had taken a hit.
“You wouldn’t know she was a multimillionaire,” Mr. McDaniel says. “She didn’t put on airs.”
Mr. McDaniel says people would approach Ms. Reahard directly about making contributions to their organizations, and she would then discuss the proposals with Mr. Wilkins during his weekly visits to her home.
Checking Out Charities
When the organizations trying to catch her attention were in Charleston, Ms. Reahard would send Mr. Wilkins and his wife to be her eyes and ears and then report back to her to ensure the organizations merited her support, Mr. McDaniel says.
Ms. Reahard never gave a reason for not returning to Charleston, Mr. McDaniel says. Mr. Wilkins declined to comment on the matter.
While many charities approached Ms. Reahard with a specific request, she sometimes took the initiative in proposing an idea.
For example, Mr. McDaniel says that when the National Trust for Historic Preservation was searching for a location for its Southern regional office, Ms. Reahard offered to acquire the William Aiken House, in Charleston, if the trust would use the historic home for that purpose. Her offer was accepted.
Ms. Reahard’s involvement with Drayton Hall was born of a personal connection with the property, Mr. McDaniel says. She was fascinated, he recalls, by its condition, with neither indoor plumbing nor electricity, during her visits in the 1930s.
In 1974, Ms. Reahard provided enough money to secure the plantation’s purchase from the Drayton family and convert the facility into a museum operated by the National Trust. Years later, she helped establish an endowment to maintain the property, although she never returned to Charleston to witness the effects of her support.
“She saw historic preservation and environmental conservation as inextricably linked in the preservation of place. To her, a sense of place mattered more than anything else,” Mr. McDaniel says. “You would be hard-pressed to find a donor in Charleston who has given, both in the amount of money and to the range of organizations, as she has.”
