Florence Hayward was born in 1855 in New Mexico, the daughter of Col. George A. Hayward, of the Confederate Army. He moved to St. Louis after the war, with his family. After public school, Florence Hayward graduated from
Mary Institute after already contributing to ''
Washington University's student paper''. Hayward was twice the president of the Alumnae Association of Mary Institute. Hayward was offered a position with
The Spectator after she wrote an article for an editor of a St. Louis paper who was ill. She held this job for two years before her family knew. Hayward set off and in London she found they had just recovered from the Boer War. Instead of beginning with the manufacturers she went to the King to request the Queen's Jubilee presents should be exhibited. At the next meeting of President D. R. Francis and the commissioners in London, it was her pleasure to inform them of her success in reserving valuable exhibits. Her next move was to go to Italy and get the Pope to give his consent to making a Vatican exhibit, which had never been done before. Through Cardinal Satolli arrangements were consummated. Francis put her in charge of historical exhibits in the anthropology division, which had originally been assigned to
Pierre Chouteau III who had made little progress. Despite being the only woman on the Board of Commissioners she created successful anthropological exhibits, publicizing the fair, and acquiring significant exhibit items. When Francis published a history of the fair in 1913, he did not mention Hayward's contributions and she never forgave the slight. Hayward was included in photographs of the St Louis fair organisers and she was given authority to negotiate exhibits, but in the end she received no more credit that the
Board of Lady Managers, who were also sidelined. Although it was noted that the directors of the World's Fair presented her with the same kind of medal that was sent to the Kings, the Pope, and other heads of nations. Hayward's success grew out of an acquaintance with international politics, and her taking advantage of the
Venezuelan situation as between Great Britain and the United States. She suggested to the King, through the Ambassador, that he show his friendly feeling to the United States by making this loan. The presents were sent to the United States wholly through her diplomatic efforts, and she made her own selections from both palaces and museums. Six guards accompanied the shipment. made this composite for the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1914 from a photo by the
Gerhard Sisters, with Martyn's drawings representing notable people whom Hayward had met. Her
Travel Letters to the different newspapers in St. Louis from abroad and they would include a wide variety of subjects. For many years she was a contributor to
The Century and ''
Harper's Bazaar magazines in America, and Country Life, Pall Mall Gazette, Jerome's Idler and the Daily Mail in London. For a long time she was the only woman writer for English Country Life''. ==The Artists' Guild==