of which are still in the museum's collection today. In 1957, the year before her death, Ninah announced that her gifts would “make only a small beginning toward a large vision” and hoped “that others will share this vision and by their interest and contributions will help establish here a center of beauty and culture worthy of the community.” She created the DeEtte Holden Cummer Museum Foundation, named for the deceased infant daughter of the Cummers, to manage her vision after her death. Museum Ninah Cummer and Clara Cummer, both now widows, died in 1958. Ninah Cummer left her estate, including her gardens, to the DeEtte Holden Cummer Museum Foundation for a museum to house her art collection. In 1960, the siblings' homes were both demolished in order to build the museum. Clara and Waldo's property was sold and now houses the Northeast Florida chapter of the American Red Cross and the Cummer's education center, Art Connections. Parts of the gardens were also destroyed during this demolition. The new building was designed by Saxelbye and Powell and constructed in 1961. It featured an Art Deco façade and an inner courtyard that was paved with the terra cotta tiles of the Cummers' old roof. One room from the original Cummer home, known as the Tudor Room, was preserved and incorporated into the new museum. The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, then named The Cummer Gallery, opened on November 11, 1961. The museum's first opening was attended by one thousand guests, including Jacksonville mayor W. Haydon Burns and Florida governor Farris Bryant. Burns was noted as saying, "The people of Jacksonville have never received a gift comparable in generosity or beauty to the museum… a testament to the heritage of the past and representing the strength and character of those who were leaders of Jacksonville in the past." The museum's collection was on display, as well as three special exhibitions: a collection of 51 etchings by James McBey (now part of the museum's permanent collection), a selection of French paintings on loan from a New York gallery, and an exhibition of American art on loan from the National Academy of Design. In 1971, ten years after the museum's opening, the Cummer celebrated the addition of a new wing for 17th-century art. In 1989, the museum acquired an ancient Egyptian stela, dating back to 2100 BCE, making it the oldest piece of