Eleanor Kidd

Eleanor E. Kidd (born c. 1915; died September 25, 2012 in Birmingham) was a fashion model and philanthropist.

Kidd graduated from Phillips High School and Birmingham-Southern College before pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University in New York, New York. While there she began a modeling career, peaking when jeweler Harry Winston posed her with the 45.5-carat Hope diamond before he donated it to the Smithsonian Institution.

She returned to Birmingham to work in her family's Sunnyland Refining Company and became known for hosting elaborate parties. She was a benefactor of the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Alabama Ballet. The rotunda at St Vincent's Medical Center is named in her honor and UAB has an Eleanor E. Kidd Endowed Chair in Primary Care Medicine.

Kidd's favorite color was pink. She covered the floors of the Mountain Brook Club in pink carpets for a party and was buried in pink, along with her ballet slippers and ice skates.

References

• Harvery, Alec (September 25, 2012) "Birmingham philanthropist Eleanor Kidd has died at age 97." The Birmingham News