Edie Sedgwick

Edith Minturn "Edie" Sedgwick (April 20, 1943 – November 16, 1971) was an American heiress, socialite, actress, and fashion model. She is best known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars. Sedgwick became known as "The Girl of the Year" in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol's short films in the 1960s. She was dubbed an "It Girl", while Vogue magazine also named her a "Youthquaker".

Family background

Sedgwick's family was long established in Massachusetts history. Her seventh-great grandfather, English-born Robert Sedgwick, was the first Major General of the Massachusetts Bay Colony settling in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1635. Sedgwick's family later originated from Stockbridge, Massachusetts where her great-great-great grandfather Judge Theodore Sedgwick had settled after the American Revolution. Theodore married Pamela Dwight of the New England Dwight family who was the daughter of Abigail (née Williams) Dwight. Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams College, was Sedgwick's fifth-great grandfather. Judge Theodore Sedgwick was the first to plead and win a case for the freedom of a black woman, Elizabeth Freeman, under the Massachusetts Bill of Rights that declared all men to be born free and equal. Her great-great-great paternal grandfather, William Ellery, was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence.