Anne Reilly, Confidential Secretary of Kenneth and Helen Spencer

Margaret A. Reilly, who went by her middle name Anne, was born in Chanute, Kansas, in 1916. After graduating from Pittsburg State University, she began working for the Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company. Later serving as Kenneth Spencer’s executive secretary for fifteen years, she was one of Spencer Chemical Company’s longest-serving employees. After Kenneth’s death, she began working for Helen Spencer, eventually becoming secretary for the Spencer Foundation. Anne Reilly died in Pittsburg, Kansas, on October 26, 1999.

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Anne Reilly at the ceremonial presentation of the Army-Navy “E” Award to the employees of Jayhawk Ordnance Works, May 2, 1944

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Kenneth Spencer’s Christmas letter to Anne, December 21, 1948

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Helen Spencer’s Christmas letter to Anne, undated

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Anne Reilly's letter to Nelson Gallery director Ted Coe, thanking him for remembering her after Helen’s death, February 23, 1982

Image Courtesy of the Office of Director Records, Ted Coe Files, RG 01/03, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Archives, Kansas City, Mo.