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 passion for art, history, and travel led to the creation of what would become the University of Mississippi Museum. Their collection reflected both personal interests and a deep appreciation for culture, including hundreds of fans from Europe and Asia, fine porcelain and silver, Mary Buie’s paintings, and family artifacts spanning the American Revolutionary War through World War I. 

Raised in a family that settled in Oxford around 1870, the sisters followed different paths before reuniting later in life—Mary pursued art professionally in Chicago, where she worked as a copy artist reproducing artworks with precision during her time at Marshall Field's Department Store, while Kate remained in Oxford, devoted to family and community. After Mary returned in the 1930s, she shared her vision of creating a museum. Following her death in 1937, Kate fulfilled that wish by establishing the Mary Buie Museum in 1939 and supporting its growth for decades. The museum later became part of the University of Mississippi, ensuring that the sisters’ legacy of art, education, and preservation would endure.