Katherine Gauss Jackson (1904-1975) was a writer and magazine editor in North Egremont, Massachusetts, and the New York City area. She was the editor of fiction for Harper's. Alfred Hamilton Barr, Jr. (1902-1981) was the director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Barr and Jackson had known each other in Greensboro, Vermont, where their families had summer homes. Barr attended Princeton University while Jackson's father was Dean of the College.