Pre-World War I Edgerly moved to New York around 1900, continuing her self-taught portraiture practice in a studio on 35th Street. According to writer Burges Johnson, Edgerly quickly gained access to the upper-class New York social scene. She also traveled to London at the invitation of Mrs. Patrick Campbell, where she began painting commissioned portraits of "the pre-World War I 'privileged classes.'" In late 1913 or early 1914, Edgerly traveled to Ottawa, where she painted the portrait of
Princess Patricia of Connaught. On February 1, 1914 she married Frederick Burt. The marriage lasted only a few months.
World War I and after In August 1914, Edgerly returned to the United States, where she continued painting portraits commissioned by wealthy society members. According to a story from the
United States Department of Labor, Edgerly also volunteered as a farmhand in
Westville, Indiana during this time. Edgerly also visited in
Washington, D.C., where she met
Count Alfred de Skarbek Korzybski, at the time a Polish soldier. On January 17, 1919, the two married, making Edgerly the Countess de Korzybska. In the years that followed, Edgerly-Korzybska continued to paint, while also helping Alfred develop the theories that would lead to his creation of
general semantics. In his 1921 book,
Manhood of Humanity, Alfred thanked her for "her steady and relentless work and her time, which saved my time." The
Art Institute of Chicago holds a 1922 painting by Edgerly-Korzybska titled
The Time-Binder, a reference to Alfred's theory of time-binding, which he would first present at the
International Mathematical Congress in 1924. From 1927 to 1933, the Korzybskis lived in Brooklyn and prepared Alfred's
Science and Sanity for publication. Beginning in 1937, Edgerly-Korzybska spent two years in
South America, traveling and painting. She then moved to
Chicago, where the
Institute of General Semantics was located. == Later life and death ==