Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans

Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans (1920-2012) was a beloved philanthropist and civic leader in North Carolina who devoted her life to the arts, education, children and families, health care and civil rights. , Her great-uncle, James B. Duke, owned the Duke Mansion from 1919-1926. It was in the solarium in 1924 that he and his advisors finalized the indenture of trust that established the Duke Endowment, one of the nation's largest private foundations. Mrs. Semans was a trustee of the Duke Endowment for 55 years, and served as its first female chairman from 1982-2001. She also carried on the family legacy through her own foundations and philanthropic work. , Mrs. Semans' love of flowers and gardens grew from her mother, Mary Duke Biddle, and grandmother, Sarah Pearson Duke, both of whom made the initial gifts to establish the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University. Over the course of her life, Mrs. Semans was instrumental in the ongoing support for the expansion and continued development of the Duke Gardens, now regarded as one of the world's finest botanical gardens. The gardens and grounds of the Duke Mansion are named in her honor as a fitting tribute to a remarkable woman, and made possible by a gift from the Puke Endowment.