Virginia Portia Royall Inness-Brown (1901–1990) was a proponent of the arts and first recipient of the Handel Medallion of New York City, in 1959.
Virginia Portia Royall was born in Medford, Massachusetts on May 4, 1901, the daughter of John Allen Crosskeys Royall and Agatha Caroline Freeman. She married New York publisher Hugh Alwyn Inness-Brown, Sr. on March 26, 1921, in Lillington, North Carolina. They lived in Plandome Manor, Nassau County, New York and had four children: Page Inness-Brown (Tharpe), Hugh Alwyn Inness-Brown, Jr, Virginia Inness-Brown (Conn), and Constance Inness-Brown Von Valkenburg. Her granddaughter Elizabeth Inness-Brown is a novelist and educator. Virginia's husband, Hugh, died of a heart attack in their Boothbay, Maine home in 1972. Virginia died of congestive heart failure in Damariscotta, Maine on August 8th, 1990.
Mrs. Inness-Brown was a member and officer of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA). She served as the vice-chairman of the International Cultural Exchange of ANTA, 1954–63, national vice-president, 1963–66, vice-chairman, Performing Arts Program "Salute to France", 1954–55, and was chairman of the Drama, Dance, and Theatre Panels of ANTA. She was the international delegate of ANTA to Poland in 1963. In 1966, Inness-Brown was the president and chairman of the American corporation for the first Festival of Negro Arts, also known as the World Festival of Black Arts, held in Dakar, Senegal.
Mrs. Inness-Brown was a board member of the Phoenix Theatre in New York, 1959–60;Chairman of the Convocation of Congress Hall, Berlin, 1957;Board member of the Midtown International Center, New York City, 1963;Board member of the National Council of Arts and Government (later National Endowment for the Arts), 1963–74;Special counsel to Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, 1963–74;United States specialist, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, State Department, 1961–63;Advisory committee of Institute of International Education, New York City, 1963–76;Advisory board, Empire State Music Festival, 1957–64;President of The Little Orchestra Society, 1966–76;Board member of the African-America Institute, 1966–68;Sponsor of the Arts Center, Columbia University, 1962;Board member of the Spence-Chapin Adoption Service, New York City, 1950–64;Board member of the Agnes De Mille Lyric Theatre Dance Co., 1960–76;Trustee of the Professional Children's School, New York City, 1955–64;Trustee of the Vivian Beaumont Allen Foundation, 1954–64 and vice president of the Foundation, 1962–64;Board member, Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York (New York Philharmonic), 1944–50, and member of the executive and standing executive committees, 1945–50;Director of the board of trustees of the Festival Foundation, New York City and Spoleto, Italy, 1961–76;Board member of the Clarion Music Society, 1959–64;Board member and executive committee member of the Manhattan Division of the National Conference of Christians and Jews (later National Conference for Community and Justice), 1959–76, and national representative to the Conference of U.S. Organizations on the United Nations, 1964;Board member, Ballet Theatre Foundation (American Ballet Theatre), New York City, 1958–78;Chairman of the U.S. Committee for the first World Festival of Negro Arts, 1964, and president of the U.S. Committee, 1965-77.Awards and achievements
She was the recipient of the Médaille de la Ville de Paris, 1955;Freiheitsglocke (Freedom Bell), the highest cultural award bestowed by the city of West Berlin, 1957Handel Medallion, New York City, 1959;Citation for Achievement, Congress Hall Berlin, 1959;Commander's Cross, Federal Cross of Merit, Federal Republic of Germany, 1961;Brotherhood Award, National Conference of Christians and Jews (later National Conference for Community and Justice), 1962;Citation, American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA), 1962;Commandeur, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, 1966;Life member of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts, Museum of Modern Art, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.She was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the Women's Auxiliary of the Episcopal Church, 1952-54. Politically, she was a Democrat.