Emery May Holden Norweb, who was known as a grande dame of Cleveland, was one of the most influential women in the history of the Cleveland Museum of Art. She was born on November 30, 1895 in Salt Lake City. Her grandfather, Liberty Holden, was the owner of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and her father was Albert Holden, a successful mining engineer. At the start of the First World War, Emery was driving ambulances and working in hospitals in France, and it was during this time that she married R. Henry Norweb. R. Henry Norweb was a United States diplomat, so throughout the couple’s marriage they lived in numerous places around the world, including Tokyo, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Portugal, and Cuba.