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In this episode of The Practitioner podcast, Martha Frick Symington Sanger, great-granddaughter of Henry Clay Frick, discusses the 10-year process of researching her family history and the discoveries that changed how she understood Frick’s legacy.
At the center of the story is the death of Frick’s young daughter Martha, a loss from which Sanger believes he never recovered—and one she sees reflected in his art collecting. She also shares the resistance she encountered from family members who wanted to protect Frick’s reputation and what she learned about the emotional power of objects passed through generations.
For Sanger, examining the past offers families an opportunity to recognize inherited patterns, break destructive cycles, and avoid passing unresolved trauma to the next generation.
The conversation previews themes she will explore during her pre-conference session on narratives at the 2026 FFI Global Conference in New York City.