The majority of her childhood was divided between Providence and Warwick Neck (in Rhode Island), and Washington, D.C.[1] Owing to her father's prominence as a congressman, Rockefeller was introduced at an early age to elevated political circles.

[1][2] On June 30, 1894, on a trip fostered by her father, Rockefeller sailed to Liverpool, beginning a lifetime of extensive European and later Asian travel.

Her initial four-month sojourn included stops in England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France.

They married on October 9, 1901, in the major society wedding of the Gilded Age, in front of around a thousand of the elite personages of the time, at her father's summer home, "Indian Oaks", in Warwick Neck, Kent County, Rhode Island.

As per her final wishes, four major works were bequeathed to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA): Lady With a Parasol and Seated Woman, both by Georges Seurat; Street at Saintes-Maries and Corridor at Saint-Remy by Vincent van Gogh.

Most notably, was a contribution by artist Henri Matisse of a stained glass window for Union Church in Pocantico, New York.

In the spring of 1954, at eighty-four years old, the then bedridden Matisse was asked to design a stained glass window for the Union Church as a memorial to Rockefeller.

After Alfred Rockefeller sent him a series of photographs of the location, Matisse changed his mind and began to work on the project.

[3] Abby Rockefeller began collecting paintings, watercolors, and drawings by a number of contemporary American artists in 1925, as well as a number of European modernists: Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

[4] In 1928, she employed Donald Deskey to create a series of furnished rooms, done in the art deco style, for the Rockefeller home.

[4] Lillie P. Bliss, Mary Quinn Sullivan, and Rockefeller joined to conceptualize what is now known as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

Quickly, they gathered the support of other prominent figures including: Anson Goodyear, Murray Crane, and Paul J. Sachs.

Her son Nelson Rockefeller was involved in the museum alongside her, starting out as chairman of the junior advisory committee and rising to president.

Some of her favorite types of items in her collection were: children's portraits and student art, in the form of calligraphy, memorials, and theorems.

In Orangeburg, South Carolina, Cahill found one of Rockefeller's most important acquisitions, a watercolor titled The Old Plantation.

[10] In 1934, Rockefeller began to lend parts of her collection for permanent display in the Ludwell-Paradis House in Colonial Williamsburg.

[8] Other pieces were hung in Colonial Williamsburg in neighboring exhibition buildings or operating taverns, blending in with the existing decor.

[8] John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s wedding gift to Abby was a sum of money, which she promptly donated to the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Providence in Rhode Island.

[2] Rockefeller was director of the YWCA operated and owned Grace Dodge Hotel in Washington D.C., which was constructed in October 1921.

Rockefeller monitored financial reports and oversaw advertisements for the hotel, with the primary goal of serving female workers.

[2] Via the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, the Good Fellowship Council was formed, inviting all people of the local neighborhood to join.

The meetings aimed to open discussion on neighborhood problems including: traffic lights, sanitation, schools, and child welfare.

[2] Abby Rockefeller served as the chairman of the Good Fellowship Council and led monthly meetings while visiting a range of community sub-clubs.

[2] In October 1920, Rockefeller desired to create a demonstration structure for the employees of the Bayway Refinery of Standard Oil, in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

As chairman, she strove to add American decor to the interior of the building, drawing largely on her childhood in Providence, Rhode Island for inspiration.

They became committed to funding the project, which commenced in 1927 [11] and, when in town, resided at Bassett Hall, one of the 88 original surviving buildings included in Godwin's restoration.