The Red Rose Girls: Huger Elliott

"He Was Not Much Given to Reading" by Elizabeth Green

"Violet Oakley did not have to wait too long for her next large commission. Not only was she well known, but she now had influential friends. The hospitable Woodwards often invited them to their nearby home, where the three women were embraced into a lively and elite social circle. Frank Miles Day, the architect who had restored Cogslea, was also a frequent guest and soon became a friend of all three, as well as an ardent admirer of Oakley's work. When Day was chosen to design an elaborate residence with a Renaissance-inspired dome-shaped, stained-glass window, three lunettes, four pendentives, and six octagonal murals for insets, he offered her the commission to decorate the spaces.

With Violet once again placated and happy, the household seemed to revert to the pleasant camaraderie of the Red Rose days. Life was lively and convivial. Of necessity, work ended earlier in the winter months when the light faded. All three artists depended heavily on natural light to control the color of their paintings. Winter evenings were spent around the fire and the piano, talking, singing, reading aloud, and entertaining guests.

The Woodwards were frequent visitors and one day brought a new acquaintance with them. Huger (pronouned 'U-gee') Elliott was a charming and erudite young architect who had recently been persuaded to entertain a select group of the Woodward's friends with a series of lectures on architecture. Smith, Green, and Oakley enjoyed the talks. In fact, Elizabeth Green found the young architect charming. Huger was a good-looking, dark-haired young man with a mustache and classically handsome features - and he began to turn up with regularity in Green's illustrations. He shared her lively wit, her love of nonsense verse, and her jovial personality. He became a fixture at gatherings at Cogslea and was a welcome guest - even after he asked Elizabeth to marry him. 

Her official excuse for prolonging the engagement was the condition of her elderly parents. She told Huger she did not wish to burden him with the expense of their care. He was willing to wait, however, and the problem was defused when he accepted a position to teach at Harvard. At the end of the summer he would be moving to Cambridge, and Elizabeth would be staying with her friends."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "The Red Rose Girls: Art and Love on Philadelphia's Main Line" by Alice A. Carter.)