Sarah J. Eddy

Sarah J. Eddy (1851–1945)[1] was an American artist who was active in abolition, reform, and suffragist movements.[2] Born in Boston, Eddy studied painting and sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and New York's Art Students League, and began exhibiting photographs in 1890, at nearly 40 years of age. Her most important exhibitions were at the New School of American Photography and the selection of American Women photographers at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900.[1]

Artistic career

Sarah J. Eddy, American, 1851-1945; Sunny Kitchen

Photography

Eddy's photography appeared in American and foreign exhibitions until about 1910. She preferred photographing women, children, and artists,[1] and her photographs were included in camera club exhibitions in Providence and Hartford, and were frequently shown at the Boston Camera Club.[1] Juries for photography salons accepted her work in Philadelphia (1898), Pittsburgh (1899, 1900), and Washington, D.C. (1896). In 1903, her pictures were included in salons in Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Toronto.

In 1894, Eddy wrote and illustrated a short article "A Good Use for the Camera" for The American Annual of Photography. In the article, Eddy concludes that the personal interactions she had with her photographic subjects were as rewarding as the finished images. She writes, "We enter into sympathetic relations with the people who furnish us with pictures. We are grateful to them and they are very grateful to us. We meet on common ground." The American Annual of Photography subsequently ran illustrations by her in 1895 and 1902.[3]

Painting

In 1893, Eddy painted a portrait of African-American social reformer, Frederick Douglass. In the portrait, Douglass holds a baton that symbolizes his authority during his tenure as marshal of the District of Columbia. Douglass sat for the portrait twice during the summer of 1883.[2]

Animal rights activism

Image from Alexander and Some Other Cats. Photography and text by Sarah J. Eddy

A committed animal rights activist and vegetarian,[4] Eddy founded the Rhode Island Humane Education Association. Between 1899 and 1938, Eddy wrote or compiled five children's books on animals and their care, which featured photographs of her own felines.[1][4] At her death, she was the director of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.[1]

Later life

Sarah J. Eddy, who never married, died in her Portsmouth, RI home, on March 29, 1945, at age ninety-three.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Peterson, Christian (2012). Pictorial Photography at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: Privately Published. p. 71.
  2. 1 2 "Frederick Douglass Painting". National Park Service US Department of the Interior. National Park Service US Department of the Interior. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 Peterson, Christian (1 June 2013). "Approved biography for Sarah J. Eddy (Courtesy of Christian Peterson)". Luminous Lint. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 McGraw, Jim (2 June 2014). "Have you met Portsmouth's Sarah J. Eddy?". East Bay RI. Retrieved 24 October 2015.

External links

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