The Red Rose Girls: Elizabeth and Huger's Final Curtain

"The Sycamore" by
Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott

"Despite their difficult start, Elizabeth Green and Huger Elliott eventually established a viable relationship. Contrary to Howard Pyle's prediction, marriage did not ruin Elizabeth's career. She continued to be a productive illustrator and take great pleasure in her work. She fulfilled her social responsibilities as Mrs. Huger Elliott, maintained her contract with 'Harper's,' and illustrated nineteen books, including 'Tales from Shakespeare' by Charles and Mary Lamb. Although it would take several years for her to reestablish her friendship with Violet, Elizabeth maintained her close alliance with Henrietta and Jessie, which Huger was sensitive enough to encourage.

In June 1920, Huger accepted the position of president of the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts. The appointment was greeted with jubilation by Elizabeth, especially when they were able to secure a house near Coglea and Cogshill. The Elliotts named it 'Little Garth,' meaning little garden. There Elizabeth occupied 'her first perfect studio.' It was a large sunlit room with cabinets ample enough to store her extensive clipping files, which by that time occupied some thirty feet of space. Over the fireplace hung a huge copy of an Italian fresco fashioned by Huger when he was an architectural student. His office was set on a balcony overlooking the studio, and there he was agreeably ensconced with his books and his typewriter.

As Elizabeth aged, she never lost her keen eye for design or her technical skill in drawing. After Huger died of a heart attack on November 14, 1948, Elizabeth elected to remain at Little Garth, where she died in 1954 at the age of eighty-two. When notified of her friend's death, Violet was disconsolate and for once could not find the strength for the task at hand. It was Violet's young friend and protégé, Edith, who went through the Elliott household and packed up Elizabeth's belongings."

To be continued

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