Cover Image -> Candela and Mom make art in the play space.------>
Photos below from "Sophilos and Early Greek Narrative" by Mary B. Moore in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal | Volume 51 - 2016
For decades, the art historical world knew Mary B. Moore as a formidable scholar of Greek and Roman art—a woman whose intellect reshaped the field, whose tenacity opened pathways for generations of students, and whose research on Greek vase painting carved out an enduring legacy in the study of antiquity. But to those who truly knew her, Mary was also something else entirely: self-made, fiercely principled, profoundly private, and slyly irreverent. Her circle remained small. Her expectations were high. Her love was usually quiet—but when she gave it, it was sharp, enduring, and occasionally accompanied by a perfectly timed sarcastic remark. And in the final years of her life, her sense of responsibility toward families facing pediatric cancer led her to leave a transformational $1.7 million gift to Ronald McDonald House New York.
That extraordinary act of philanthropy did not emerge from public recognition, donor cultivation, or even direct engagement with the House. Mary never visited the House, never requested a tour, and never sought acknowledgment. Her gift arose from her own lived experience—shaped by illness, personal struggle, and years of witnessing hardship up close in her Upper East Side neighborhood.
It came, too, from decades of conversations with the person who knew her best: her former student, longtime friend, and eventual caregiver, Veruschka.
This is their story; grounded in scholarship, compassion, family centered care, and a shared understanding of what emotional support truly means for families navigating health disparities and pediatric disease.
Did you know…?
antiquity
noun | /an-ˈti-kwə-tē/
1. The ancient past, especially the period before the Middle Ages; the classical world (e.g., Ancient Greece and Rome).
o “She studies the art and architecture of antiquity.”
2. An object, artifact, or work of art from ancient times.
o “The museum has many antiquities from Egypt.”
3. Great age; something very old.
o “The building is of considerable antiquity.”
A Scholar Who Built Her Life from (Under) the Ground Up
Mary was born in 1937 and grew up in a deeply traditional household, one structured around expectations that women would marry, raise children, and support their husbands’ ambitions. Her younger brother attended Notre Dame. She was expected to follow the path laid out for her—settling into domestic life rather than pursuing intellectual work. Mary refused.
As Veruschka explained, Mary fought with her parents simply to gain the opportunity to go to college, “because she knew from the get-go that was what she wanted to do.” Her father ultimately agreed—but only with conditions. If she wanted an education, she would pay for it all by herself. So, Mary did exactly that. And likely muttered under her breath a dry “of course I will,” because Mary did almost everything quietly and with a touch of sardonic flair.
Making New York City Home
After graduating, Mary taught art at the secondary level, using her earnings to save enough money to move to New York City. With a single suitcase and limited means, she rented a room in one of the Upper East Side residences historically available to single women, worked, studied, and began piecing together the life she envisioned. She loved painting—especially landscapes in oil—and had originally imagined becoming an art teacher.
But her world shifted when she encountered a small group of older women academics who recognized her potential and encouraged her to pursue a scholarly career. They helped her understand her brilliance; that she was driven and capable of entering and succeeding in a field dominated at the time by men. Mary, as ever, probably responded with a grin and a whispered quip about how they’ll all have to keep up with her.
A Scholarly Career
Mary took that encouragement and built an extraordinary career. She entered graduate school at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts—the same program where she would later inspire her own students to study—and became a respected authority on Greek vase painting and ceramic iconography. She excavated in Libya, Iran, Greece, and Italy, often in remote environments requiring meticulous medical planning, including an emergency appendectomy before an excavation because care would be inaccessible. She published extensively, volunteered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for fifty years, and taught countless students who would go on to shape the field.
Her scholarly impact was profound. But in her personal life, she prioritized autonomy and precision. She maintained minimal ties with her family and approached social obligations with selective engagement. Independence was her hallmark, and intellectual rigor her constant companion. And if anyone thought they could bend her, Mary would probably have deadpanned, “Do try.”
Mary’s Heart was in Love with Unearthing Artistic Treasures
Mary’s dedication to archaeology and classical studies left an indelible mark on the field. She took on excavations at sites long explored but unpublished, transforming years of overlooked work into groundbreaking scholarship.
Most notably, she systematically published two seminal works on black-figure and red-figure pottery—publications that became foundational for understanding Greek vase painting and, more broadly, ancient architecture and sculpture. Much of this pottery had been unearthed decades before, but Mary brought the collection together and brought it to life, creating a timeline of artistic and historical development that scholars still rely on today.
Her work was inseparable from her eight summers in Greece, particularly on the northern island of Samothrace, where she and her colleagues spent countless hours carefully brushing and cataloging artifacts for the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Athens, too, remained central to her work, offering a city where research, teaching, and discoveries intersected. For Mary, archaeology was a lifelong devotion, a practice that demanded both meticulous attention and passionate curiosity.
A Student Who Became Family
When Veruschka walked into Mary’s Roman art class at Hunter College over two decades ago, she initially believed she would be a modernist. Greek art felt distant, unfamiliar, and far removed from the 20th-century artists she admired. But Mary changed that.
“She was very difficult in some ways,” Veruschka remembers— “old-school, demanding, relentless about scholarship, very hardcore, but fundamentally changed my life.”
Mary showed hundreds of slides each class. One day she projected an especially beautiful vase, and something clicked for Veruschka—a moment she still describes as an epiphany. She approached Mary afterward to ask about it, describing the vase simply as “really beautiful.” Mary replied, deadpan, “I showed you 300. Could you be more specific?”
It was the beginning of a relationship that would transform both of their lives.
"Without Her, I Had a Whole Different Life"
Under Mary’s mentorship, Veruschka shifted her career goals to Greek art, even though she had not yet mastered French, German, Italian, or ancient Greek—languages central to the discipline. Mary taught her how to research, how to read scholarship, frame questions, and conduct fieldwork.
Reconstruction of Gigantomachy vases from the Acropolis in Athens, American Council of Learned Societies Grant-in-Aid to Mary in 1977
Veruschka said, “Without her, I had a whole different life. And if she was ever sarcastic at me—which was often—you had to admit she had a point.”
Over time, they became more than professor and student—they became companions, confidantes, and eventually family. When Mary developed dementia in her later years, Veruschka assumed responsibility for her care: coordinating medical support, managing her transition into assisted living, and overseeing her affairs. Veruschka was the center of Mary’s intimate circle.
Experiences of Illness and the Meaning of Support
Two pivotal experiences bound Mary and Veruschka in ways neither could have predicted.
The first came in adulthood, when Veruschka was undergoing chemotherapy. She had not initially shared her illness with Mary. When the truth came out, Mary responded with quiet concern, asking how she could help and consistently showing up in meaningful ways.
“She cared deeply about people,” Veruschka reminisced.
The second bond emerged from childhood illness. Veruschka had experienced cancer long before meeting Mary. During casual meals at restaurants near Mary’s home at East 75th and York on the Upper East Side, they often saw families and children nearby—close enough to Ronald McDonald House New York that they would pass families walking to and from hospitals.
Mary didn’t generally gravitate toward children— “you had to be 13 and up,” as Veruschka put it—but she cared deeply about suffering. When she observed families at Ronald McDonald House New York, she saw hardship and the urgent need for emotional support, not just young faces.
“Mary understood how to show up,” Veruschka said. “She didn’t need anybody to tell her what to do.”
Those experiences seeded her future philanthropy.
Did You Know…?
Athenian Vase Painting: Black- and Red-Figure Techniques
Athenian vase painting in the sixth to fourth centuries B.C. relied on two major techniques—black-figure and red-figure—to decorate fine pottery while simpler wares served everyday needs. Potters shaped vessels on a wheel, often in separate sections, then assembled them with slip and added handles before painters applied designs.
Black-figure artists painted motifs in a slip that fired black, carving in detail or adding white and purple accents, while red-figure painters left figures the natural clay color and filled the background with black slip, using brushes to achieve more naturalistic anatomy and expressive detail.
Invented around 530 B.C., the red-figure method gradually replaced black-figure as artists embraced the flexibility of brushwork. Both styles required a three-stage firing process that manipulated oxygen to turn slipped areas black and leave reserved areas orange. These vases were crafted in specific shapes for everyday and ritual uses—from storing wine to drawing water to pouring libations—and their imagery offers valuable insights into Athenian society, complementing surviving texts from the Archaic and Classical periods.
Why Ronald McDonald House New York Mattered to Her
Mary supported four primary charities: Memorial Sloan Kettering, Ronald McDonald House New York, a cat rescue in Utah, and one other organization that Veruschka could not recall. She had divided her estate among them as early as 2014, well before her passing, and left the residuary to be distributed according to Veruschka’s guidance.
Her approach was focused, independent, and principled. She never toured the House. She never sought recognition. Yet she consistently gave in smaller amounts before her $1.7 million gift arrived posthumously.
Her motivations were clear: to support families in need of shelter, community, and compassionate care during pediatric treatment. She understood health disparities, social determinants of health, and the weight of uncertainty for families navigating pediatric cancer. She also saw Veruschka as family and, having witnessed her fight and recovery from cancer, Mary wanted other families to benefit from the same steadfast support.
“She didn’t need somebody to tell her she was doing the right thing. She just knew,” Veruschka recalled.
A Legacy Rooted in Care, Scholarship, and Health Equity
Mary’s life left multiple legacies.
Her academic legacy is evident in her publications, teaching, archaeological fieldwork, and decades shaping the lives of students at Hunter College, the Institute of Fine Arts, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Her personal legacy rests in her independence, refusal to accept generational limitations, global experiences in male-dominated excavation sites, and dedication to mentoring students.
Read A Journey Through Meadow and Memory about a young artist and architect who stayed in the house, battled and beat cancer. Now, she is an architecture school graduate pursuing her career. This is her story.
Her philanthropic legacy—supporting pediatric patients and families at Ronald McDonald House New York—carries profound meaning.
Though she never had children and distanced from her family, Mary ensured families confronting medical crises would find safety, stability, and care. She helped strangers not for recognition but because she understood suffering and caregiving firsthand.
Her gift strengthens holistic care at the House, expands family centered programs, addresses health disparities, and supports social determinants of health for families using Ronald McDonald Family Rooms in local hospitals. It equips the House to continue its work at the intersection of compassionate care and healthcare innovation for families traveling to Memorial Sloan Kettering and other major medical centers.
Imagine the Impact of $1.7 Million at RMH-NY
Thanks to Mary’s incredible generosity, $1.7 million will ripple through RMH-NY, touching the lives of children and families in ways that are immediate, tangible, and deeply meaningful. Here’s what that kind of support could look like:
- 26,562 round-trip rides for children to and from the hospital for treatment
Every ride is a journey from home to treatment and back—a safe, reliable way for kids to get the care they need without adding stress to their families.
- 44.78 YEARS of meals for a family (3 meals a day)
For thousands of nights, children will have a warm bed, nourishing meals, and a place that feels safe and comforting during treatment.
- 3,646 family nights with full services
Families will find more than shelter—they’ll find holistic care, emotional support, and a space to be together during some of life’s most challenging moments.
Mary’s gift isn’t just a number—it’s rides, beds, meals, and moments of comfort that will ripple through families’ lives for years to come. It’s hard to overstate what this legacy means: thousands of children and families supported, cared for, and strengthened by her kindness.
Imagine the impact: thousands of children and families supported, comforted, and cared for—because of one extraordinary act of generosity. Yet gifts like Mary’s, as transformative as they are, are rare. What truly sustains Ronald McDonald House New York are the countless smaller contributions made by caring people across the city—gifts that come together to keep families close, every single day.
You can be one of those essential gifts. Your support ensures that a family facing the darkest moment of their lives can remain together, find strength together, and keep fighting together.
Donate to Ronald McDonald House New York today.
Honoring Mary’s Legacy
Although Mary never visited Ronald McDonald House New York in person, the House found a meaningful way to celebrate her lasting impact. A room will be named in her honor, serving as a tribute to her generosity, her scholarship, and her life on the Upper East Side. To enrich the space, Veruschka plans to contribute one of Mary’s oil paintings, allowing her artistry to comfort and inspire families staying in the room.
When invited to tour the House and see the commemorative plaque, Veruschka accepted immediately. The legacy Mary and Veruschka created together—built on trust, shared experiences, and deep respect—lives on in this gift, touching families for years to come.
phi·lan·thro·py fə-ˈlan(t)-thrə-pē
plural philanthropies
2a: an act or gift done or made for humanitarian purposes
A Scholar’s Final Gift
Mary was exactly who she appeared to be brilliant, private, disciplined, and principled. Beneath her sharp edges ran a soft, determined commitment to making a difference.
She lived independently. She pursued knowledge relentlessly. She taught with conviction. She cared quietly, often with a twinkle in her eye that hinted at a private joke. And she gave generously.
Her $1.7 million gift to Ronald McDonald House New York ensures families facing pediatric cancer will receive emotional support, housing stability, and compassionate care. It advances health equity, enhances holistic care, and strengthens the House’s capacity to serve New York’s most vulnerable communities.
Mary B. Moore spent her life studying ancient worlds. Her final act ensures that today’s families—facing the modern struggles of pediatric illness—will find a bit more kindness, support, and hope. Her legacy lives not only in museums and journals but in the lives of families who will walk through the doors of Ronald McDonald House New York and feel just a little less alone.
Mary B. Moore’s gift—totaling $1,736,797.42—will be felt not in figures, but in moments: warm meals shared, nights of rest made possible, and countless children whose days are a little brighter because their families were able to stay together at the House. Thank you, Mary.
