Eleanor was an avid painter. Her masterpiece, a cyclorama of Birmingham’s history, was never finished due to her death in 1987. In the piece, she detailed much of the history that she and her family directly witnessed. Her father, Richard Massey, was one of the teens that founded the city in 1871. He made his fortune by founding Massey Business College for Women and invested in the development of the city. In fact, he was the man who named Birmingham, “The Magic City.” Eleanor continuously sought knowledge and was eager to share it. She was highly sought after as a speaker and teacher, boasting once that she gave over fifty talks a year. She famously enrolled in classes at Samford at the age of 77. She is the “god-mother” of culture in Birmingham, founding the Womens Committee of 100, and served as president of dozens of civic and art clubs that still thrive. Needless to say, she was the driving force behind her husband’s art education and development as an international sculptor. It was she that invited famed sculptor, Lorado Taft, to the Pink House in 1921 to mentor Georges.