Emma Edwards Green, born Emma Sarah Etine Edwards (1856–1942), later known as Mrs. Emma Green, was an American painter and designer. She designed the original State Seal of Idaho that was used from 1891 to 1957, a modified version of which is also used on the flag of Idaho. She is the only woman to have designed a state seal.

Biography

Emma Edwards Green was born Emma Sarah Etine Edwards in 1856 to Emma Jeanne Catherine Richard and former Missouri Governor

John Cummins Edwards John Cummins Edwards (June 24, 1804 – October 14, 1888) was a Democratic politician from the state of Missouri. He served as a member of the 27th United States Congress as well as the 9th Governor of Missouri. Early life John Cummins Edward ...

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

. In 1890, Emma Edwards Green stopped in

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

, to visit friends on her way home from the Arts Students League of New York. She decided to stay in Boise and began teaching art classes. In 1891, Edwards was invited to submit a design for the State Seal competition sponsored by the First Legislature for the State of Idaho. On May 5, 1891, Edwards was awarded $100 by Governor N. B. Willey for her design of the state seal, which depicts a miner, a woman and various natural resources of Idaho. The original seal painting is now held at the

Idaho State Historical Society The Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS) is a historical society located in the U.S. state of Idaho that preserves and promotes the state's cultural heritage. The society was founded as the Historical Society of Idaho Pioneers in 1881, nine ye ...

. A few years after designing the State Seal of Idaho, Edwards married James G. Green. She had no children, but assisted in raising her

nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle ...

s. Emma Edwards Green died in Boise, Idaho, on January 6, 1942, and was buried with her husband in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Emma Edwards 1856 births 1942 deaths 19th-century American women painters 19th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters 20th-century American painters American designers Artists from California People from Stockton, California