A Legacy of Giving

—By Sara Baxter

Emy Evans Blair ’52 and Duane Blair both valued education and through their generosity made sure others benefited as well.

If you were to look around Agnes Scott College—at the buildings, the classrooms or even the students—it would be hard not to see some evidence of the generosity of longtime philanthropists and Agnes Scott supporters Emy Evans Blair ’52 and Henry Duane Blair.

Throughout their lifetime, the Blairs gave millions of dollars in gifts to the college for specific causes and scholarship funds— some of which they created—as well as to The Fund for Agnes Scott.

“Emy would call us and ask, ‘What do you need?’” says Betsy Bilbro Huey ’97, director of leadership giving at Agnes Scott, who knew the Blairs for more than 12 years. “Sometimes she would have an idea, and other times she had enough faith and trust to let us put her gift where it was needed.”

Though her love of the college ran deep, Sarah Emma “Emy” Evans Blair did not come to Agnes Scott by choice. Emy’s mother, Sarah McCurdy Evans, a 1921 alumna whose own mother also attended Agnes Scott, chose the college for her. The deal was Emy had to stay a year, and then she would be allowed to transfer to another college if she liked.

Emy never took her mother up on that offer. Her boyfriend was at Emory University at Oxford, and she did not want to go too far from him. And it turned out Agnes Scott was the right place for her.

“She loved her time at Agnes Scott,” says Karen Fortenberry Beavor ’86, Emy and Duane’s niece. “She forged great friendships there and kept in touch with those friends throughout her lifetime.”

Emy graduated in 1952 with a degree in chemistry. That same year, she married the love of her life, Duane Blair, whom she had met at a streetcar stop when they were both Decatur High School students. Emy went to work as a researcher for Sydell-Woolsey, a textile chemical manufacturing company, and became the breadwinner as Duane finished medical school at Emory University. After a stint in Beaufort, South Carolina, where Duane served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, the Blairs returned to the Atlanta area in 1961, moving to Decatur before settling in Stone Mountain.

It was there that they continued to build on a lifetime of love, friendship, adventure and philanthropy that lasted through 63 years of marriage, creating a legacy that has lived on after their deaths.

After Duane established his surgical practice, eventually becoming DeKalb Medical Center’s chief of surgery and chief of staff, Emy began managing the practice.

“They were equal and balanced partners in marriage and life,” says Kim Fortenberry Siegelson ’84, their niece and Beavor’s sister. “They respected and valued each other’s talents and opinions. They were a team.”

Emy Evans Blair ’52 and Duane Blair at holiday party before Duane’s retirement in April 2003.

Photo courtesy of Kim Fortenberry Siegelson ’84

With the Blairs’ success came generosity. They started giving to causes that Siegelson calls “local and personal,” such as both of their alma maters, the DeKalb Medical Center Foundation and animal rescue groups.

“Both valued their undergraduate education and were aware of the role that education played in their success,” says Siegelson. “They valued it for themselves, and valued it for others.”

The list of gifts bestowed upon Agnes Scott is long and impressive. They contributed to and/or established many scholarship funds, including the Dorothy Travis Joyner Faculty Innovation Fund in honor of their former neighbor, Dot Joyner ’41.

For Rebekah Scott Hall, the Blairs gave gifts for the Office of Admission and the Enrollment Suite in memory of Mary Ben Wright Erwin ’25. In John Bulow Campbell Hall, Room 215 is the Emy Evans Blair ’52 and Duane Blair classroom. And Emy and her brother gave a gift for one of the chemistry laboratories in the Mary Brown Bullock Science Center in honor of their mother.

“Emy loved people and loved naming things for the people she cared about,” says Huey. “She was a humble, generous soul.”

Both of the Blairs were lifelong learners, taking classes in whatever interested them and then becoming experts in it. Duane nurtured a love of gardening, becoming a champion rose-grower. He also became a wine connoisseur. Emy collected Gourmet magazines and enjoyed cooking elaborate meals. Both were generous entertainers known for their parties, from family gatherings to DeKalb Medical Foundation dinners. They also loved to travel together.

“They always did a deep dive into whatever they wanted to learn, and often their travels were based around learning,” Beavor says. “They went to Italy and learned Italian cooking. They went to Napa Valley to learn about wine.”

Their nieces tell stories of family gatherings hosted by the Blairs that were legendary, including an annual Easter egg hunt. Having no children of their own, they opened the doors of their home to their extended family, including a large group of nieces and nephews.

Sisters Karen Fortenberry Beavor ’86 (left) and Kim Fortenberry Siegelson ’84 remember fondly the lifelong and loving partnership of their aunt Emy Evans Blair ’52 and uncle Duane Blair.

Photo: Tom Meyer

“They were very family oriented and very fun to be around,” Siegelson notes. “They were intelligent, funny and great conversationalists. They were known as the ‘fun’ couple.”

Their love story came to an end in 2015 when Duane passed away at the age of 85. Emy died two years later in 2017. But their legacy lives on.

“They were generous in life but also in death,” says Siegelson. “Their memory lives on in the legacy they’ve left at Agnes Scott and in the causes they supported.”

Agnes Scott was the recipient of an $8 million legacy gift given after their deaths. Of that generous gift, $2.4 million will go toward the Agnes Scott “Main” Hall renovation.

“Their gifts have been transformative,” says Huey. “And they have been critical in the education of our students, whether it’s giving a scholarship or helping build a state-of-the-art building. Their generosity has helped so many people and made a difference at Agnes Scott.”

Header Photo: Emy Evans Blair ’52 and Duane Blair together in the early 1970s. Photo courtesy of Kim Fortenberry Siegelson ’84