Biographical Note
Leonora Jackson McKim was born in Boston in 1880, where at an early age she showed a gift for music. She studied the violin and trained in Chicago, Paris, and Berlin. In 1896 she made her debut and was awarded the Mendelssohn State Prize by the Prussian state the following year. Considered one of the first female concert violinists, Jackson McKim was widely acclaimed. She performed for royalty in Britain, Germany, and Sweden, and was a soloist with leading European and American orchestras, including the London Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony. In 1915 she married Dr. William Duncan McKim (1855-1935), a member of a prominent family of merchants in Baltimore and an organist. They resided in Washington, D.C.
Beginning in 1928, Leonora Jackson McKim began contributing material to the Library of Congress. Upon her death in 1969, she left the bulk of her estate to the Library. In 1970, the McKim Fund (Leonora Jackson and William Duncan McKim) was established at the Library for the creation and appreciation of violin and piano music. The Fund commissions works for violin and piano and sponsors concerts held at the Library of Congress.