Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams (September 13, 1843 – December 6, 1885) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
socialiteA socialite is a person who is known to be a part of fashionable high society because of their regular participation in social activities and fondness for spending a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained. Some socialites may choose to use their social skills and connections...
, active society hostess and arbiter of
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
, and an accomplished
amateurAn amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without formal training or pay. An amateur receives little or irregular income from their activities, and differs from a professional who makes a living from the pursuit and typically has some formal...
photographerA photographer is a person who takes photographs using a camera. A professional photographer uses photography to make a living whilst an amateur photographer does not earn a living and typically takes photographs for pleasure and to record an event, place or person for future enjoyment.A...
.
Clover, who has been cited as the inspiration for writer
Henry JamesHenry James, O.M. was an American author who expatriated to England, and who acquired British nationality near the end of his life. One of the key figures of 19th century literary realism, James was born in the United States, the son of theologian Henry James, Sr., and brother of the philosopher...
's
Daisy MillerDaisy Miller, an 1878 novella by Henry James, portrays the courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Winterbourne, a more sophisticated compatriot of hers...
(
1878The year 1878 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*January 28 - The Yale News becomes the first daily college newspaper in the United States.*Guy de Maupassant becomes an employee of the Ministry of Public Instruction....
) and
The Portrait of a LadyThe Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880–1881 and then as a book in 1881...
(
1881The year 1881 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* March 4 - A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, begins.* The first of the three-volume History of Woman Suffrage, was published by Susan B...
), was married to writer Henry Adams. After her
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
, he commissioned the famous
Adams MemorialThe Adams Memorial is a grave marker located in Section E of Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C., that features a cast bronze allegorical sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens...
, which features an enigmatic
androgynousAndrogyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ and γυνή that can refer to either of two related concepts about gender: the mixing of masculine and feminine characteristics, as in fashion statements; or the balance of "anima and animus" in psychoanalytic theory.-Androgyne:Androgyne derives...
bronze
sculptureSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
by
Augustus Saint-GaudensAugustus Saint-Gaudens , was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance"...
, to stand at the site of her, and his, grave.
After her death, Adams destroyed all the letters that she had ever written to him and never spoke her name or referred to her publicly again. She was also omitted from his
The Education of Henry AdamsThe Education of Henry Adams records the struggle of Bostonian Henry Adams , in early old age, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth. It is also a sharp critique of 19th century educational theory and practice. In 1907, Adams began privately...
.
Early life
She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the third and youngest child of Robert William Hooper (1810 - April 15, 1885) and
Ellen H. SturgisEllen Sturgis Hooper was an American poet. A member of the Transcendental Club, she was widely regarded as one of the most gifted poets among the New England Transcendentalists...
(1812-November 3, 1848). Her siblings were Ellen Sturgis "Nella" Hooper (1838-1887), who married professor Ephraim Whitman Gurney (1829-1886); and Edward William "Ned" Hooper (1839-1901). The Hooper family was wealthy and prominent. Clover's birthplace and childhood home in Boston, was at 114 Beacon Street,
Beacon HillBeacon Hill is a historic neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts that along with neighboring Back Bay is home to about 26,000 people. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks...
. When she was five-years-old, her mother, a
TranscendentalistTranscendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early to middle 19th century...
poet, died and she became very close to her physician father. She was
privatelyPrivate schools, also known as independent schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition, rather than relying on public funds...
educated at a
girls schoolSingle-sex education is the practice of conducting education where male and female students attend separate classes or in separate buildings or schools. The practice was predominant before the mid-twentieth century, particularly in secondary education and higher education...
in
CambridgeCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent...
, which was run by
ElizabethElizabeth Cabot Cary was an American educator, and the co-founder and first president of Radcliffe College....
and
Louis AgassizJean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a paleontologist, glaciologist, and geologist, and was a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...
.
Clover Hooper volunteered for the
Sanitary CommissionThe United States Sanitary Commission was an official agency of the United States government, created by legislation signed by President of the United States Abraham Lincoln on June 18, 1861, to coordinate the volunteer efforts of women who wanted to contribute to the war effort of the Union...
during the
Confederate WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
. She defied convention by insisting on watching the
reviewThe Grand Review of the Armies was a military procession and celebration in Washington, D.C., on May 23 and May 24, 1865, following the close of the American Civil War...
of
ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
's and
GrantUlysses S. Grant was general-in-chief of the Union Army from 1864 to 1869 during the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877....
's armies in 1865. In 1866, she traveled abroad, where she is said to have met fellow Bostonian Henry Adams in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. She and her father were living at their home in
Beverly, MassachusettsBeverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,862 at the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides Crossing.-History:...
, in July 1870.
On June 27, 1872, she and Henry Adams were married in Boston, and spent their honeymoon in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
. Upon their return, he taught at
HarvardHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
and their home at 91 Marlborough Street, Boston, became a gathering place for a lively circle of
intellectualAn intellectual is a person who uses his or her intelligence and analytical thinking, either in a professional or a personal capacity.-Terminology and endeavours:...
s. In 1877, they moved to Washington, D.C., where their home on Lafayette Square, across from the
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every...
, again became a dazzling and witty center of social life. She was known as a clever and outspoken woman.
Clover remained close to her father, writing him regularly. In June 1880, Dr. Hooper was living at his household on Beacon Street in Boston. Her gossipy letters to her father, other family members, and friends, reveal her to be a gifted reporter and provide an insightful view of the Washington and politics of the day, while the ones she wrote from Europe are not ordinary travel letters, but shrewd reflections on character and society, revealing a critical and sprightly mind.
From her reports written in letters, it was widely speculated that it was actually Clover Hooper Adams who was the "anonymous" author of
Democracy: An American NovelDemocracy: An American Novel is a political novel written by Henry Brooks Adams and published anonymously in 1880. Only after the writer's death in 1918 did his publisher reveal Adams's authorship although, upon publication, the novel had immediately become popular.In January 2005, the Washington...
(
1880The year 1880 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Henry Adams - Democracy: An American Novel *Rhoda Broughton - Second Thoughts*Wilkie Collins - Jezebel's Daughter*Carlo Collodi - Pinocchio...
), which was not credited to her husband until 43 years later.
Photography
In 1883, Clover became active in photography and was one of the earliest
portraitPortrait photography is the capture by means of photography of the likeness of a person or a small group of people , in which the face and expression is predominant. The objective is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the subject...
photographerA photographer is a person who takes photographs using a camera. A professional photographer uses photography to make a living whilst an amateur photographer does not earn a living and typically takes photographs for pleasure and to record an event, place or person for future enjoyment.A...
s. Familiarizing herself with the chemicals, she did all her own
developingPhotographic processing is the chemical means by which photographic film and paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image...
.
Her photographs, which reveal an extraordinary eye, consist of formal and informal portraits of politicians, family friends, various members of the Adams and Hooper families, family pets, and still lifes of interior and exterior locales, including photographs of Washington,
Bladensburg, MarylandBladensburg is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 7,661 at the 2000 census.Bladensburg is from central Washington, DC...
,
Old Sweet SpringsSweet Springs is a unincorporated town in Monroe County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Sweet Springs lies at the intersection of West Virginia Route 3 and West Virginia Route 311. The community is known for its Old Sweet Springs resort and spa, listed on the National Register of Historic...
, and the Adams family homes in
QuincyQuincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
and Beverly Farms, Massachusetts.
These images provide insights into 19th century America and a woman's place in it. Besides the images, Clover also left behind a great deal of information about her photography, including meticulous chronological notes she kept while working in her
darkroomA darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 1800s...
, listing photographs and commenting on
exposuresIn photography, exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall on the photographic medium during the process of taking a photograph...
,
lightLight is electromagnetic radiation, particularly radiation of a wavelength that is visible to the human eye ....
ing, et cetera, and the references in her letters.
Her work was widely admired, although her husband apparently would not allow her to become professional and discouraged any publication of her photographs.
Final years
The Adams's letters reveal their household to be a normal and happy one. In the beginning, he confessed himself "absurdly in love," and she spoke again and again of Henry's "utter devotion."
Clover and her husband hired architect
H.H. RichardsonHenry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect of the 19th century whose work left a significant impact on Boston, Pittsburgh, Albany and Chicago, among others.-Biography:...
and were in the process of having a new home built on Lafayette Square, which was adjacent to the Richardson designed house being built for
John HayJohn Milton Hay was an American statesman, diplomat, author, journalist, and private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln.-Early life:...
, when her adored father died on April 13, 1885. After Dr. Hooper's death, she sank into bouts of overwhelming
depressionMajor depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
.
While awaiting the completion of the house, they rented one nearby on
H StreetThe H Street Corridor is a commercial district in the heart of the Near Northeast neighborhood – in northeast Washington, D.C...
. Clover documented the construction of the houses with her camera.
While alone in her bedroom on a Sunday in early December, 1885, she swallowed
potassium cyanidePotassium cyanide is an inorganic compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline compound, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. The vast majority of KCN is used in gold mining followed by use in organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications include...
, which she used in developing her photographs.
Clover Hooper Adams died at age 42 at her temporary home on H Street in Washington, D.C., and was found by her husband lying on the rug before her bedroom fire. The evening newspaper reported that she had suddenly dropped dead from paralysis of the heart.
Her husband commissioned sculptor
Augustus Saint-GaudensAugustus Saint-Gaudens , was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance"...
and architect
Stanford WhiteStanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be...
to create a memorial to mark her grave in
Rock Creek CemeteryRock Creek Cemetery — also Rock Creek Church Cemetery — is an cemetery with a natural rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C...
. The haunting
Adams MemorialThe Adams Memorial is a grave marker located in Section E of Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C., that features a cast bronze allegorical sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens...
is probably the most famous of all monuments in the cemetery.
In a letter to Henry Adams, John Hay wrote, "Is it any consolation to remember her as she was? That bright, intrepid spirit, that keen, fine intellect, that lofty scorn for all that was mean, that social charm which made your house such a one as Washington never knew before and made hundreds of people love her as much as they admired her."
Legacy
The
Massachusetts Historical SocietyThe Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. It is located at 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts and is the oldest historical society in the United States....
in Boston, houses the photograph collection of Clover Adams, and other materials.
Books
- The Letters of Mrs. Henry Adams, 1865-1883. Edited by Ward Thoron, Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Livre....
, Boston. With illustrations, including a portrait by Marian Adams. 587 pp. 1936The year 1936 in literature involved some significant events and new books.- New books :*Eric Ambler - The Dark Frontier*Henry Bellamann - The Gray Man Walks *Gottfried Benn - The Trainee Man*Arna Wendell Bontemps - Black Thunder...
.
- Clover: The Tragic Love Story of Clover and Henry Adams and Their Brilliant Life in America's Gilded Age. By Otto Friedrich, Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin, and HarperCollins...
, New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. 381 pp. 1979The year 1979 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*V.C...
.
- The Education of Mrs. Henry Adams. By Eugenia Kaledin, Temple University Press
Temple University Press is a university press publishing house that is part of Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The press was founded in 1969....
, PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth-largest...
. 306 pp. 1981The year 1981 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction given for the first time...
.
External links