Marjorie Powell Allen

{{Short description|American philanthropist}}

Marjorie Powell Allen (1929-1992) was an American philanthropist from Kansas City, Missouri who worked with the Powell Foundation.{{Cite news|title=Women's Advocate, Philanthropist Dies|last=Bye|first=Connie|date=September 25, 1992|work=The Kansas City Star}}

Allen gave two day camps and a residential camp for children, but most notably she donated 809 acres of Powell family land that became Powell Botanical Gardens.

In 1996 the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel, a non-denominational chapel designed by architect E. Fay Jones, opened at Powell Botanical Gardens. {{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Art & Architecture at Powell Gardens|url=https://powellgardens.org/art-architecture/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date= 9 September 2024|website=Powell Gardens}}

Allen also helped found the Women's Employment Network of Kansas City and Central Exchange. The Network helps women on public assistance find jobs. The Central Exchange is a professional organization for diverse women.

In April 1983, Allen received an earnest letter of request from Mr. Charles S. Douglas, who, at the time, was a relatively new member of the [https://askc.org Astronomical Society of Kansas City]. Mr. Douglas wrote in hopes of obtaining a grant for $20,000 in order to build a new observatory on land leased to the organization by the City of Louisburg, Kansas in Lewis-Young Park. Remembering that her father, George E. Powell, who had established the family's foundation, Allen incrementally granted the organization their initial request which she generously expanded to nearly $48,000 to ensure the observatory would be equipped with restrooms and a computerized system for the extraordinary telescope built by the society's members which houses a nearly 30-inch mirror.{{Cite news|url=https://www.kansascity.com|title=Skill, tenacity build a home for telescope|date=September 15, 1986|work=The Kansas City Star| access-date=July 16, 2024}} Powell Observatory was opened and dedicated May 11, 1985 in a ceremony dedicating the Powell family name to the observatory. Powell Observatoryremains operational and continues to be managed and operated by the Astronomical Society of Kansas City.

In 1988, Allen was voted Philanthropist of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Council on Philanthropy. She also received the "Friend to Youth" award from the American Humanics program at Rockhurst College in 1985.{{Cite news|url=https://www.kansascity.com|title='Friend to Youth' award to Marjorie Powell Allen|date=June 12, 1985|work=The Kansas City Star|access-date=July 10, 2019}}

When she died after battling a long illness,{{Cite news|url=https://www.kansascity.com|title=Remembering one of KC's best friends College tuition plan, gardens are legacies of Marjorie Powell Allen|last=Hockaday|first=Laura|date=November 1, 1992|work=The Kansas City Star|access-date=July 10, 2019}} her memorial celebration was held on the grounds of Powell Botanical Gardens.{{Cite news|url=https://www.kansascity.com|title=The Kansas City Star|date=September 25, 1992|access-date=July 15, 2019}}