Meet Our Donors

Grover Batts

Grover Batts, a North Carolina native who still speaks with a delightful hint of a Southern accent, moved to Washington DC after returning from serving in WWII and completing his degree at Wake Forest thanks to the GI bill. Immediately after arriving in Washington, DC, Grover bought a subscription to the National Symphony Orchestra. Building on his love of literature, art and collecting, Grover spent 25 years of his working life at the Library of Congress as a Manuscript Historian cataloging the papers of such luminaries as Henry Kissinger, Alexander Graham Bell and even Mae West. Grover Batts knows what it means to leave a legacy. Handling the works of great Americans makes you think about your values and what impact you'd like to make. He says "I get a thrill out of giving and I love to see my gifts appreciated." He entered into a charitable gift annuity with the Kennedy Center because he loves the fact that he can help the Kennedy Center at the same time as increasing his current income which is difficult to do in this low interest rate environment.