Rebekah Harkness was born on 17 April 1915 in St Louis, Missouri, USA. She was married to Niels H. Lauersen, Benjamin Harrison Kean, William Hale Harkness and Dickson W. Pierce. She died on 17 June 1982 in Manhattan, New York, USA.
Philanthropist and patron of the arts. Founded the Harkness Ballet. Through the William Hale Harkness Foundation, she sponsored a medical research building at the New York Hospital and supported a number of medical research projects.