Alida Rockefeller Messinger

Who is Alida Rockefeller Messinger?

Alida Ferry Rockefeller is an American philanthropist. She is the youngest daughter of John Davison Rockefeller III and Blanchette Ferry Hooker, and a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family. Her brother is Senator John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV. According to an account in the New York Times, Alida was only five years old when her father began to teach her about philanthropy. She said:

"My father and mother's greatest fear was that their four children might take their wealth for granted and grow up spoiled and arrogant..... They wanted us to learn early that with wealth comes responsibility."

She is a major donor to conservation and environmental organizations. Her Alida R. Messinger Charitable Trust also funds conservation and environmental groups, as does the Rockefeller Family Fund, founded in 1967, of which she is a trustee.

Messinger also contributes financially to the Center for Public Integrity. She gave over a million dollars to democratic-leaning 527 organizations in 2004.

She married future Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton in 1978. They had two sons together, Eric and Andrew, before divorcing in 1986.