Archives West Finding Aid

Jane Greenough was born on December 2, 1914 to John Epperson Greenough and his wife Verna in Seattle, Washington. John was the son of the prominent Missoula-based capitalist Thomas L. Greenough. Thomas Greenough rose to prominence in Montana in the late 1800s following a number of successful mining and timber business ventures. Greenough Park, which was established as Missoula’s first park, and Greenough Mansion, which was destroyed by fire in the early 1990s, served as physical representations of the family’s legacy. Jane Greenough Green kept extensive documentation of both.

Although she was born in Seattle, Washington, Jane moved with her parents and brother, Thomas Lockman Greenough II, to Helena, Montana after World War I. She graduated from Helena public school in 1928 and was then sent to Miss Hall’s School for Girls in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. She subsequently attended Vassar College, graduating in 1937 with a degree in English. After training as a secretary, she worked at an art gallery in New York City before moving back to the Pacific Northwest and pursuing an interest in photography. Her early work focused Native American events and tribal members, and in her later career, she worked as a librarian at the Portland Art Museum from 1966-1975. She continued to collect art and photography throughout her life in addition to her activities documenting her family’s history.

In 1948, Jane Greenough married Edward Pelton Green. They had two sons, Thomas and Timothy. Jane Greenough Green died on February 13, 2015 in Seattle, Washington.