Euphemia Bakewell (1870 – 1921) was an American bookbinder.

Biography

She was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

on 30 January 1870 to Benjamin Bakewell (an executive with Bakewell, Pears & Co.) and Ellen Frances Boardman (daughter of Rev. Henry Augustus Boardman). She was often known to her family as "Effie" or "Miss Ef". She studied at the Pittsburgh School of Design, and then under

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later became the Parsons School of Design. ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. While in New York, she met Mary Helen Wingate Lloyd, who remained a lifelong friend. Bakewell spent time in Europe, where she studied

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

. In 1902, she studied under T. J. Cobden-Sanderson at his Doves Bindery, and continued her study of

bookbinding Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

back in Paris. Upon her return to the United States the following year, she lived with her sister Mary in the Sewickley neighborhood of Pittsburgh, where she established her own bindery. In Pittsburgh, she taught

Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt (1882-1963) was an American bookbinder and book collector, specializing in botanical literature. Early life Rachel McMasters Miller was born in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, in 1882 to Rachel Hughey McMasters Miller (186 ...

(and, briefly, a group of Hunt's friends). Due to a detached retina, she was forced to bring her bookbinding activities to a close. Throughout her life, she maintained close ties to both the American and European bookbinding communities. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Bakewell travelled to Europe to assist with relief efforts. With funding from her friend Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt and her husband Roy A. Hunt, Bakewell worked to help orphans and child refugees. In September 1918, she travelled to France with the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

's Educational Department to teach, read to, and give lectures to soldiers. She returned to the United States 1919. She died of

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a disease where not enough red blood cells are produced due to a deficiency of Vitamin B12, vitamin B12. Those affected often have a gradual onset. The most common initial symptoms are Fatigue, feeling tired and weak. Other ...

on 25 December 1921.

References

External links

Guide to the Papers of the Bakewell-McKnight Family, 1815-1990, (bulk 1861-1919)
at the

Heinz History Center The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest history museum in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. Named after U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (1938–1991) from Pennsylvania, it i ...

Guide to the Photographs of the Bakewell-McKnight Family, 1825-c1945 (bulk 1861-1919)
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakewell, Euphemia Bookbinders Artists from Pittsburgh 1870 births 1921 deaths American people with disabilities