I. 1920
In the days before Christmas I dreamt of Mrs. McCormick.
She wore a black mourning dress and looked at me sadly, as if she expected something from me.
I wrote her about this dream.
She answered that just at that time, a little earlier, she had received a telegram about the death of her friend Campanini.
Case of fraud. ~Carl Jung, The Black Books, Vol. VII, Page 203
Cleofonte Campanini (1860-1919) was the director and principal conductor of the Chicago Opera from 1910 until he died of pneumonia on December 19, 1919.
The Chicago Opera Association was funded by the McCormicks.
It became bankrupt in 1921, and the McCormicks withdrew their support. ~ The Black Books, Vol. VII, Page 203, fn 146
Philanthropy and support of Jung
As wealthy socialites, with two family fortunes available, the McCormicks were prominent in Chicago social and cultural circles, donating large amounts of money and time to causes.
Edith helped fund the juvenile probation program of Chicago’s pioneering Juvenile Court system when it was revealed that, although legislation set up the system, there was no provision to fund the probation officers.
Edith began support of the Art Institute in 1909 as a charter member and supported it with monetary contributions and loans from her extensive personal art collection.
She and Harold, along with other wealthy patrons, founded the Grand Opera Company, the first in Chicago, in 1909.
In 1913, she travelled to Zurich to be treated for depression by Carl Gustav Jung, and contributed generously to the Zürich Psychological Society.
After extended analysis and intense study, Edith became a Jungian analyst, with a full-time practice of more than fifty patients.
She would continue her practice after her return to America, attracting many socialite patients from around the United States.
In order to disseminate Jung’s ideas, Edith paid to have his writings translated into English.
In 1919. McCormick donated land she had received from her father as a wedding gift to the Forest Preserve of Cook County, to be developed as a zoological garden, later to become Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo.
Edith later explained that her donation was motivated by a fascination with animal psychology. She returned to America in 1921 after an eight year stay.