The Red Rose Girls: Elizabeth Shippen Green, Pt. 1

"A Petal from the Rose" by Elizabeth Shippen Green

"Elizabeth Shippen Green was a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy. Bessie, as she was known, was described by her friends as 'a delightful person, and full of fun, who didn't mind making herself look ridiculous.' Small, slim, dark-haired and bright-eyed behind her spectacles, she began her studies in 1889 and completed them in 1893.

She was the third child of Jasper and Elizabeth Boude Green, born in September on the first day, in 1871. Her sister Katherine was just a year older. The family home was near the heart of Philadelphia. They were not wealthy but they had impeccable old Philadelphia connections through both the Green and the Shippen families, which provided Elizabeth with entrée into the best social circles throughout her life.

Like most Victorian parents, it was important to Jasper and Elizabeth Green that their daughters have every possible social advantage. Elizabeth was sent to private Philadelphia schools. Her interest in art began at a very young age. Encouraged by her father, a former Academy student, woodcarver, and artist-correspondent for 'Harper's Weekly' during the Civil War, she began illustrating her school notebooks at the age of eight. Her parents allowed their talented young daughter to enroll at her father's alma mater when she was just eighteen.

Unlike Jessie Smith, Elizabeth Green never thought of pursuing a career in the fine arts. Her focus was always on illustration. It is often forgotten that in the last quarter of the nineteenth century illustrated books and periodicals were the only vehicle for bringing images of the world into American homes - that weekly magazines with serialized stories generated the same anticipation as a a favorite weekly television program. Since eighty-eight percent of all the subscribers to American periodicals were women, magazine editors actively sought out qualified artists who could delineate a feminine point of view - and there were few female artists skilled enough to complete the assignments. Elizabeth's father could see that she had talent and that the climate favored her success - so it was not surprising that he had high hopes for her future."

To be continued

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