Her father, Charles Adler, a wealthy shoe manufacturer[1] who had emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1856, built a home in Bolton Hill and sent his three youngest children to attend private school.
In 1902, she married Albert Carl Lehman of Pittsburg and gave birth to her son Murray in 1906.
[2][3] May preferred a life of independence and art rather than the traditional role of mother and wife.
May made the significant contribution of the Renaissance Room bought from William Randolph Hearst complete with the sculpture of St. Catherine of Alexandria and Giovannidal Ponté’s “St, Anthoney’s Abbot” to her beloved museum.
[1] She helped André Masson and his family escape Nazi-occupied France in 1941 and ultimately became a significant collector of his art.