Call Number:

F0896

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

5 item (9 pages)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0099, F0896, Lucy R. Jackson letters to Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

circa 1930 (inclusive)

Creator:

Jackson, Lucy R.

Form:

correspondence and Poems

Abstract:

These three letters, written by Philadelphia poet Lucy R. Jackson to American illustrator Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott, along with two of her poems, were originally laid in a copy of Jackson's book, Verses, which she inscribed to Elizabeth and Huger Elliott.

Lucy R. Jackson was a resident of Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who wrote a book of poems titled

Lucy Jackson had established a friendship with Huger and Elizabeth Elliott, which is evident in the affectionate inscription in

Biographical information regarding Lucy R. Jackson derived from the collection.

American illustrator Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott (1871-1954) illustrated children's books and worked for many years for

Elliott studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts from 1889 to 1893, and then began study with Howard Pyle at Drexel Institute, where she met Violet Oakley and Jessie Willcox Smith. The three artists would form a lifelong friendship and at times shared a common residence. They lived together first at the Red Rose Inn, which caused Howard Pyle to call them "the Red Rose girls," and later at Cogslea, their home in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia.

In 1911, Green married Huger Elliott, an architecture professor, and moved away from Cogslea. In 1920, the Elliotts returned to the Philadelphia area until 1925, when Huger Elliot accepted a position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Following Huger's death in 1948, Elizabeth Elliott returned to live in the area of Cogslea near her artist friends and remained there until her death in 1954.

Carter, Alice A. The Red Rose Girls: an Uncommon Story of Art and Love. New York: harry N. Abrams, 2000.

These three letters, written by Philadelphia poet Lucy R. Jackson to American illustrator Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott, together with two of her poems, were originally laid in a copy of Jackson's book,

Jackson's letters were written to accompany poetry, to inquire of the Elliott's well being, and generally to continue a friendship. With her letter dated February 24th, Jackson enclosed a printed copy of her poem, "Willowgate Speaks," mentioning that she heard Elizabeth Elliott want a copy of it. In the same letter, she sent word to Huger Elliott that she was working on a poem based on seeing the "The Rospigliosi Cup," which belonged to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where Huger worked in 1930.

The March 27th letter regarded Jackson's poem, "Portrait od [of?] a Ten-year-old," which remains in the back of

On April 2, Jackson wrote to note a change to her poem, "Portrait od [of?] a Ten-year-old" and to suggest that the last phrase might be changed in a later edition.

Although another Jackson poem, "To Mira: In Memoriam," (dated March 21, 1926) accompanied these letters, it is not mentioned in any of the letters.

Arranged in chronological order.