Alice Damrosch Kiaer was the eldest daughter of famed Conductor Dr. Walter Damrosch and Margaret (Blaine) Damrosch. She was the granddaughter of Secretary of State James G. Blaine and Harriet (Stanwood) Blaine. As a child, she spent a great deal of time on the slopes near her family home in Austria. In the 1920's, she was the first American woman to scale the Matterhorn from the North face. During that time, Alice worked as an assistant to her father. She suggested that he commission George Gershwin to write a piece that the New York Symphony Orchastra could perform. (Her father was the conductor) Gershwin accepted and his "Concerto in F" was first performed in 1925. (Gershwin played piano for the performance with Walter Damrosch conducting the orchastra) In 1932, she was the first US woman to win the Parsenn Derby in Switzerland. She organized and managed the first United States Woman's Olympic Ski Team in 1936 and in 1948 she also managed the team that competed in Switzerland. During the war, Alice served on the American Red Cross Relief to Prisoners of War Service and lectured throughout the United States. She was active with the International Ski Federation. She was married three times. Hall Pleasants Pennington (1st marriage - divorced) Dudley Wolfe (2nd marriage - divorced. He later died on a climbing expedition to K2 mountain) Her third marriage was to Herman S. Kiaer. He was the President of Fearnley and Egar Shipping Company in New York. Alice also maintained a summer home in Bar Harbor, Maine. She died at her home on East 71st Street in New York and was buried in the family lot with her parents and her maternal aunt, Harriet Blaine Beale in Bar Harbor.
Alice Damrosch Kiaer was the eldest daughter of famed Conductor Dr. Walter Damrosch and Margaret (Blaine) Damrosch. She was the granddaughter of Secretary of State James G. Blaine and Harriet (Stanwood) Blaine. As a child, she spent a great deal of time on the slopes near her family home in Austria. In the 1920's, she was the first American woman to scale the Matterhorn from the North face. During that time, Alice worked as an assistant to her father. She suggested that he commission George Gershwin to write a piece that the New York Symphony Orchastra could perform. (Her father was the conductor) Gershwin accepted and his "Concerto in F" was first performed in 1925. (Gershwin played piano for the performance with Walter Damrosch conducting the orchastra) In 1932, she was the first US woman to win the Parsenn Derby in Switzerland. She organized and managed the first United States Woman's Olympic Ski Team in 1936 and in 1948 she also managed the team that competed in Switzerland. During the war, Alice served on the American Red Cross Relief to Prisoners of War Service and lectured throughout the United States. She was active with the International Ski Federation. She was married three times. Hall Pleasants Pennington (1st marriage - divorced) Dudley Wolfe (2nd marriage - divorced. He later died on a climbing expedition to K2 mountain) Her third marriage was to Herman S. Kiaer. He was the President of Fearnley and Egar Shipping Company in New York. Alice also maintained a summer home in Bar Harbor, Maine. She died at her home on East 71st Street in New York and was buried in the family lot with her parents and her maternal aunt, Harriet Blaine Beale in Bar Harbor.
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