The Red Rose Girls: Elizabeth's Wedding

"Paper Doll Books"
by Elizabeth Shippen Green

"On Saturday afternoon, June 3, 1911, Elizabeth Shippen Green became Elizabeth Green Elliott. The late-afternoon wedding was a private function. Because the guest list consisted only of intimate friends, no formal invitations were sent out. Henrietta decorated the house with banks of flowers. The Reverend Jacob LaRoy of St. Martin's-in-the-Field performed the ceremony. Violet and Jessie attended the bride, who was given away in marriage by her uncle. The quiet service and modest dinner reception were conducted with the dignity and sense of propriety that characterized life at Cogslea.

Although the bride and groom left the house soon after the reception they did not leave Philadelphia fast enough to miss the next morning's headline story on the front page of the 'Philadelphia Press:' 'Trio of Artist Friends Broken by Cupid.' The headline and following article ruined the occasion for Elizabeth, and whoever leaked the details of what was meant to be a very private occasion was obviously no friend of the Red Rose Girls. The press reported, wrongly, that 'Smith Green and Oakley spent their last two hours 'closeted' together with a shattered Violet Oakley pleading with Elizabeth to keep their compact, holding out hope till the very last that she would change her mind and stay, and then breaking down completely. As Elizabeth and Huger sailed for Europe, Elizabeth wrote, 'I think the only redress is to sue for libel when we get back...'

She also wrote them:

'I must say and I want to pour out my heart to you, you lovely dear people to work and slave for me to give me such a beautiful happy wedding day when I had troubled and feared that it would be the saddest day almost for me. I may be married and I'm very happy on the married side of the situation but I'll never be any less to you - not any different in the real me toward you and Jessie and Violet and Mrs. Oakley. I'm just not that kind. I don't know about what the future has in store, but it has not in store any change or forgetting in me, only addition - not division. I'll be double but not half...'

To be continued

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

The Red Rose Girls: Elizabeth's Proposal

"Rising Vigorously Out of the Earth
Was a Little Rose Bush"
by Elizabeth Shippen Green

"Cogslea was charming, the Red Rose girls' careers were flourishing, but things were changing - significantly. In 1909 Elizabeth Shippen Green's mother died and her father was failing. Violet began to harbor serious worries about the future, as the specter of Elizabeth's possible defection hung over the house like a dark cloud. In 1910 Jasper Green died. 

Elizabeth characteristically dealt with her grief without reducing her workload. She also made no move to honor her promise to Huger, who was in Boston waiting for some indication that her mourning period was over and that they were finally free to plan their lives together. His patience did not last. Having accepted a job as director of the Rhode Island School of Design, he planned to make his home in Providence and required a definite answer from Elizabeth - one way or the other. So sometime in October 1910, he took the train to the Allen's Land Station, walked down the road to Cogslea, and gave Elizabeth an ultimatum: marry him now or the engagement was over. Elizabeth was torn by indecision. She was thirty-nine years old and had been with her friends since she moved out of her parents' home at twenty-six. The four women had an agreement that she would violate if she left.

She must have felt somewhat vindicated by the fact that her companions were financially secure. Jessie's income was about $12, 000 per year. She was so prosperous that her friends affectionately nicknamed her 'the mint.' Violet had recently been awarded two important new commissions that seemed to ensure her solvency for many years. And Huger was undeniably charming and fun.

She told Jessie and Violet first. Henrietta came in from her garden later, and Elizabeth confronted her with the news. She had accepted Huger's proposal. Henrietta said nothing, just turned her back and walked into the other room where Jessie and Violet were waiting. Blinking back her tears, she asked her friends, 'How can she love anyone more than she loves us?'"

To be continued

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

The Red Rose Girls: Jessie Excels

"Summer's Passing" by Jessie Willcox Smith

"Hailed as America's Kate Greenaway, there was a constant demand for Jessie Willcox Smith's work. The comparison with Greenaway, the English illustrator whose charming images of impeccable children adorned British children's books at the end of the nineteenth century, pleased her. She never expressed any regret about her choice of subject matter nor seemed to feel that children's book illustration was any less important than the allegorical murals that Violet Oakley constructed. Nor did she make any self-deprecating remarks about the sentimental nature of her paintings.

Despite her great financial success, Smith's work was drive by conviction, not by money. Although her even temper and noticeable lack of the sort of artistic zeal that drove Violet occasionally caused her to mention that perhaps she was not a 'real' artist, she was dedicated to her profession and continued to work prodigiously even though it had been many years since there had been any pressing financial need. Her illustrations were tremendously popular, but a friend once wrote, 'Only a few know that they represent - a steady devotion to work - a continuous effort, generously and unselfishly poured out that others may rejoice and be glad.'

After returning from a trip to England, Smith illustrated two critically acclaimed books in quick succession: 'Dream Blocks,' published in 1908, and 'The Seven Ages of Childhood,' published in 1909. Between them, the two books had twenty-three full-page color illustrations. She was also busy with magazine illustrations for 'Collier's,' 'Ladies' Home Journal,' 'McClure's Magazine,' and 'Woman's Home Companion.'

In 1907 the New York Society of Illustrators, recognizing the excellence of women in the field, elected their first five female members. Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and Violet Oakley joined Florence Schovel Shinn and May Wilson in the select group."

To be continued

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

 

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.)

The Red Rose Girls: Alphonse Mucha

"The Child and Tradition" by Violet Oakley

"Cogslea was in easy walking distance of the Allen's Lane train station, and Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green and Violet Oakley took advantage of their proximity to convenient transportation and started going into Philadelphia frequently. Even Violet, who was making good progress on the Harrisburg panels was ready to go out and have some fun.

When the great Alphonse Mucha, icon of the French Art Nouveau movement, was sponsored by the Plastic Club to speak at Witherspoon Hall in Philadelphia, they were in the audience. Mucha, who spoke no English, lectured with the aid of an interpreter. In high spirits, Violet commemorated the occasion to amuse Henrietta who, as usual, stayed home.

'Mr. Mucha says: Vat is Arrt? It is bewtee. The pairson who is onable to comprehend the mor-r-ral ar-r-monies in onable to comprehend feesicle ar-r-monies. The Amer-rican landscape is a r-rich if not r-richer than the Eur-r-ropean landscape. In composition everything should be in proportion of two to three. If not, we say it is ogly - illustrates on blackboard - then it is bewtee. Vat is bewtee? It is the manifestation of mor-ral ar-rmony (develops the 2 to 3 formula.'

In 1906 after four years of concentrated effort, Violet finished the murals for the Governor's Reception Room. On November 23 the lights burned all night in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg as Violet, forfeiting any sleep at all, supervised the workmen hired to install the panels. They finished at 6 a.m., just as the crowds started to arrive fort he ceremonies. The governor, Samuel Pennypacker, who reached his office early in the morning, was surprised to see thousands already assembled. 

When the paintings were unveiling, Pennypacker was as pleased with the murals as any of the citizens. The critics were kind too, and Violet was elated with the subsequent acclaim, which secured her a place as an important member of the American Renaissance Revival movement. The former managing director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, praised her great achievement: "Miss Oakley's work precisely resembles the better achievements of the Venetian School... This great achievement will grow with every year it is seen and studied. In it there has been depicted what is unquestionably rare in modern art - a genuine spiritual conviction.'"

To be continued

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

The Red Rose Girls: Cogslea

The Garden Fountain at Cogslea

"In August of 1905, after several months of secret negotiations, H. S. Kerbaugh, purchased the Red Rose Inn and two hundred surrounding acres for $200,000. In January, Violet Oakley, Jessie Smith, Elizabeth Green and Henrietta Cozens were served with an eviction notice stating: 'Each of you are hereby notified and required to quit and deliver up to me possession of the said premises, which you now hold as tenant under me, at the expiration of the said lease, namely, the first day of May, A.D. 1906, as I desire to have such possession.'

The eviction notice caught the Red Rose Girls completely off guard. Later, friends would tell them that so many people advised Henry Kerbaugh not to disturb his famous tenants, that he lost his temper and shouted, 'I don't want any beggarly artists on the place!' His decision to turn them out put the household in turmoil. What were they to do?

Help came from one of Philadelphia's wealthiest citizens, Dr. George Woodward. After much discussion, Woodward agreed to renovate a partially burnt-out house located on his property near the picturesque Cresheim Creek. The old house had thick stone walls and an adjacent barn and carriage house that could serve as studio space. He hired the noted architect Frank Miles Day to make the necessary improvements. George Walter Dawson was engaged to lay out the gardens, which the artists stipulated should, as closely as possible, duplicate the grounds at their beloved Red Rose Inn - complete with the fountain, distinctive pergola, clematis and red roses. The extraordinary generosity of the Woodward family mitigated the artists' distress over leaving their home, and the four companions were able to relocated with minimal interruption of their busy schedules. 

They named their new home Cogslea, keeping the acronym they had devised for their eccentric family and adding 'lea' for the sloping land of the new estate. They were forever grateful for the generosity of the Woodward family and affectionately called their benefactor St. George. The name stuck, and although the original address for Cogslea was Allen's Lane, the present address of the home (now a national historic site) is St. George's Road."

To be continued

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

The Red Rose Girls: Murals at the Pennsylvania Capitol, Pt. 2

"Penn's Examination in the Tower of London"
by Violet Oakley

"When Violet Oakley returned from Europe, she began to work in earnest on the murals for the Governor's Reception Room at the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in Harrisburg. She called the series, 'The Founding of the State of Liberty Spiritual.' There were to be eighteen horizontal panels, all six feet in height, the longest panel measuring nineteen feet. She composed a narrative beginning with the events in Europe that led to William Penn's vision of religious freedom in a peaceful, unarmed state, and ending with his first sight of the shores of Pennsylvania.

 Violet felt the realization of Penn's dream was imminent and would devote much of her life to pursuing his hope for international disarmament, harmony and understanding. She worked productively, completing six panels and a study for the seventh, which she submitted to the jury at the Pennsylvania Academy's 100th anniversary exhibition. All her hard work, the long hours in the studio, and the costly research trip to Europe were rewarded by the Academy's gold medal. 

However, three of her panels on display led to serious controversy. As part of her narrative they showed the vehement opposition of the Catholic Church to William Tyndal's translation of the Bible into English in 1525, which ended in his strangulation at the stake with his corpse being burned. The president of the American Catholic Historical Society wrote a long letter to the governor contending that the subject matter was 'irrelevant' and 'inappropriate' for the new State Capitol, and that it would be impolitic to install them.

An upset Violet explained that in order to understand William Penn's motivations for leaving his native land, it was necessary to understand the magnitude of the religious intolerance that existed in England. She noted that the rest of paintings in the series would tell a different story. When the sequence was concluded the public would understand 'the beauty of tolerance, versus the darkness of intolerance.' In the newspaper accounts she sounded confident, well-informed, and mature beyond her thirty-one years. 

Still, she must have been terribly worried. She had only a year left on the project. Most of the money due for the paintings was already spent. She needed critical acclaim to secure her next commission. The press reported that the governor sustained 'the historic accuracy of the paintings and their fitness for decorations in Pennsylvania's Capitol,' but he made no public statement on the subject at all."

To be continued

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