Buie and Skipwith; Sisters, Artists, Collectors

The Mary Buie and Kate Skipwith Collections

Mary Carter Skipwith Buie and Kate Anderson Skipwith were half-sisters from Oxford, Mississippi, whose shared love of art, history, and travel laid the foundation for what would become the University of Mississippi Museum. Their collection reflected both personal interests and a deep appreciation for culture, featuring over 300 fans from Europe and Asia, fine porcelain and silver, Mary Buie’s own paintings, and family memorabilia from the American Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War I. Together, their lifelong dedication to collecting and preserving art and history created a legacy that continues to enrich Oxford’s cultural landscape.

The sisters’ story began in a family that settled in Oxford around 1870 after living in New Orleans, Virginia, and Tennessee. Mary Buie, after marrying Henry T. Buie in 1883, moved to Chicago, where she studied art and worked as a copy artist for the Marshall Field’s Company. There, she maintained her own studio, specializing in miniature portraits. Kate Skipwith, meanwhile, remained in Oxford, devoted to her family, faith, and community. She lived modestly, selling baked goods with her sister Cornelia Greene Skipwith and later inheriting property and funds from their brother, John Adair Skipwith, which helped secure their family home on University Avenue; the future site of the museum.

In the 1930s, after her husband’s death and declining health, Mary returned to Oxford to live with Kate. During this time, she expressed her wish to create a museum to display their art and historical treasures. When Mary passed away in 1937, Kate brought that dream to life by building the Mary Buie Museum beside their home and gifting it to the city in 1939. She continued to support and expand the museum until her death in 1961, leaving a trust for its future growth. In 1974, the University of Mississippi acquired the museum, and in 1977, it honored Kate’s lasting contributions with the addition of the Kate Skipwith Teaching Museum; ensuring that the sisters’ vision of art, education, and preservation would endure for generations.