Carolyn Haywood once described herself as “grand student of Howard Pyle.” Haywood was heavily influenced by several of Pyle’s students: Jessie Willcox Smith (1863-1935), Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott (1871-1954), and Violet Oakley (1874-1961). They were known as the Red Rose Girls for the time that they spent living and working at the Red Rose Inn in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Red Rose Inn was the trio’s respite from the bustling and tiresome streets of Philadelphia. The charm and romanticism of the inn offered the women distance from the distractions of the outside world. The inn allowed them studio space to flourish. Together with their friend and housekeeper, Henrietta Cozens, they later moved down the road to the house that came to be known as Cogslea. C-O-G-S, for each of the letters in their last names, became a sort of surname for the women. Their artwork and friendship made them famous in their own time.

Jessie Willcox Smith was a notoriously proper woman. She studied under Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, though she felt that he was a “madman” and kept a significant distance from the scandal that surrounded him. Since 1885 was not a time when many women would receive such an education, Smith was determined to pursue a life as an artist on her own terms. Carolyn Haywood described her as having an “impersonal sense of her work” and though “she seemed to work without egotism,” she approached her work with a professional manner and was incredibly mindful of her deadlines. Her paintings and illustrations were of children in a vibrant and idyllic world. She was well known for her illustrations of children’s literature, and also provided many covers for Good Housekeeping magazine.

Elizabeth Shippen Green was the most outgoing of the three women. She began illustrating at an early age and was encouraged to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts, her father’s alma mater. Green was not interested in the fine arts, but wanted to focus on illustration. When she was 29 years old Green signed an exclusive contract with Harper’s Monthly Magazine that lasted for 23 years. Haywood said that “her sense of humor did not stop with an idea, it fulfilled it.” She was meticulous in her work and was known to be a perfectionist. When she married Huger Elliott, she had a well-established career and she continued to be prolific well into her later years.

Violet Oakley was the youngest of the Red Rose Girls. She was born into a family of painters and felt that her career choice was hereditary. She established her place in the art world with the commission for the murals in the Governor's Reception Room at the Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Her work proved to be so successful that the commission was extended to include murals in the Supreme Court Building there. Her work on such prominent murals allowed her financial independence and elevated her status in Philadelphia society, at a level not typically reached by a woman based on her own merit. As Carolyn Haywood described her, Oakley “had a great sense of perfection…she could forgive sin, but not stupidity.”

It should be noted that Henrietta Cozens was friend and housekeeper to the Red Rose Girls. She first lived with them at the Red Rose Inn in Villanova, PA in 1902. She was a horticulturalist and kept the many gardens on the grounds of each of their homes. She also oversaw the household at Cogslea and later moved with Smith, in 1914, to a nearby home and studio that would be known as “Cogshill.”

Carolyn Haywood shared a friendship with each woman and maintained correspondence with them that is now in her collection in the Children’s Literature Research Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Haywood was a student of both Green and Smith and she worked as Oakley’s assistant on several murals. The influence from each woman’s distinctive style can be seen throughout Haywood’s early work. Much of Jessie Willcox Smith’s artwork focused on children, which is reflected heavily in Haywood’s illustration of children. The Christmas cards that Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliot sent to Haywood feature pen and ink drawings similar to those featured in Haywood’s books. They were more than just teachers for Carolyn Haywood; they provided the inspiration for her to live her life as an artist. Haywood’s career path has strong similarities to Oakley’s. Haywood spent much of her early career working on murals for the Manayunk National Bank and painting portraits of Philadelphia society. Carolyn Haywood looked to the Red Rose Girls for inspiration in her lifestyle and career. She wrote, “as an author and illustrator of books, I owe a great deal to these three distinguished women who shared what they knew with me, inspired me, and counseled me. They have had my love and gratitude for the greater part of my life and enriched it immeasurably.”

And as always, visit our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter for more updates from the Children’s Literature Research Collection.

--Lindsay Friedman

Tags: CLIR Grant, Children's Literature Research Collection, archives

Hi there! Paul Savedow here, your go-to librarian for career resources. I am the head of the Education, Religion, and Philosophy Department in the Parkway Central Library and run WORKPLACE Wednesdays, a weekly program that can help you create and improve your résumé, search for new jobs, and help you figure out a new career path. Each Wednesday this fall, WORKPLACE Wednesdays will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in Parkway Central’s Skyline Room on the fourth floor. Free of charge, the programs are designed for adult job seekers and feature advice on workplace topics such as career decision making, writing and critiquing résumés, job hunting tips and techniques, interviewing skills, and computer and internet resources. Tomorrow's program will address creating and improving your résumé.

To complement WORKPLACE Wednesdays, I am proud to introduce a new blog on WORKPLACE tips! Every other week, I will be blogging about need-to-know topics like company and industry research, the role of professional organizations in career choices and job searching, employer expectations, federal government career resources, and more!

For a sneak peak of the services available at WORKPLACE Wednesdays, check out the video below and watch Tracy Davidson interview me about the variety of valuable resources and services we offer!  

Free Library from Tracy Davidson on Vimeo.

You can find me here next week for your first dose of WORKPLACE tips as I blog about following up on job applications and interviews. Until then, happy job hunting!

For questions, you can call the WORKPLACE at 215-686-5436.

By Paul S.

Tags: Reviews, WORKPLACE, careers

In just a week and a half, the third annual Free Library Festival will be taking over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Parkway Central Library for a burst of books, music, and inspiration for everyone! During the free, two-day event, the Free Library of Philadelphia will host bestselling authors and award-winning performers, as well as feature tasty treats from Stephen Starr Events, Chaddsford Winery, and Cabot Cheese. Visit the Festival’s site for details on visiting authors and performers, as well as Library tours and Festival information.

In the meantime, check out these can’t-miss author highlights:

Kristin Chenoweth | A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages
Saturday, April 18 at 1:00 p.m.; Bank of America Main Stage

Molly O’Neill | American Food Writing: An Anthology: With Classic Recipes
Saturday, April 18 at 1:00 p.m.; Skyline Salon

John Green | Paper Towns
Saturday, April 18 at 3:30 p.m.; Target Children's Stage

Joyce Carol Oates | Dear Husband: Stories
Saturday, April 18 at 4:00 p.m.; Bank of America Main Stage

Dara Torres | Age is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage in Your Life
Sunday, April 19 at 1:00 p.m.; Bank of America Main Stage

Jane Hamilton | Laura Rider's Masterpiece
Sunday, April 19 at 3:00 p.m.; Bank of America Main Stage

Vicki Myron | Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
Sunday, April 19, at 4:00 p.m.; Bank of America Main Stage
 

Tags: Events at the Library, Free Library Festival

It seems that Augusten Burroughs may have taken some liberties in his characterization of the Turcotte family (aka "the Finches") in his wildly popular Running with Scissors: A Memoir. But Running with Scissors: A Memoir isn't a memoir; it's a "book," at least that is according to a legal agreement reached last month between the Turcotte family and Burroughs (and his publisher, St. Martin's Press). In a 2003 interview for Bookslut, Litsa Dremousis--apparently without prescience--compares Burroughs to JT Leroy (whom she also interviewed that year), saying, "It surprises me that with so many writers, their default position is to compare you to David Sedaris . . . but your background sort of reminds me of JT LeRoy. . . . Stylistically, you guys are day and night, but the thing that you seem to have in common is that your early childhood stories are so similar, that your mothers were mentally ill, you were sexualized early . . . and clearly, you were both born to write. . . ." Apparently Burroughs was nodding along in agreement. Of course, JT Leroy was never born at all--he was a fictional persona, the elaborate figment of Laura Albert's imagination. Perhaps someday she'll publish a memoir about the whole experience. Or will it be a "book"?