Inez Harrington Whitfield
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Inez Harrington Whitfield (May 25, 1867 – June 26, 1951) was an educator and
botanical illustrator Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive about subjects depicted and are often found printed alongside a botanical description in boo ...
best known for her
watercolor painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...
s of
wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...
s native to Arkansas.


Biography

Inez Harrington Whitfield was born on May 25, 1867, to James Whitfield and Ida Doty Whitfield. She had one sibling, a sister named Erle Winfred who was born in 1873. Their mother was a direct descendent of
Edward Doty Edward Doty (August 23, 1655) was a passenger on the 1620 voyage of the ''Mayflower'' to North America; he was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact. Early life Doty came from England, but from where in Suffolk, England 1598. According ...
, an early American colonist. The family lived in
Ilion, New York Ilion is a village in Herkimer County, New York, United States. Located in the Mohawk Valley region, the population was 7,646 at the 2020 census. The village is at the northern edge of the town of German Flatts, though a tiny portion is in th ...
, where Inez received an early education before graduating from
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
in
Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...
in 1889 with a
bachelor of letters Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second bachelor's degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been touched on in ...
degree. Inez struggled with
rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...
for the majority of her life, eventually relying on a
wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...
for mobility starting in 1911. In 1901, she began regularly traveling to
Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...
to take advantage of the effect the area's warmer weather and therapeutic baths had on her disability. She officially moved to Arkansas in the early 1900s and soon became a recognized figure in the community, founding the area's first Little Theater in the late 1920s. She organized the Hot Springs Garden Club and the Hot Springs Business and Professional Women's Club, as well as the Hot Springs branch of the
American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances Justice, equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide Social net ...
. The 1915 publication ''Woman's Who's Who of America'' had a brief biography on Whitfield, which pointedly included a sentence on her
anti-suffragist Anti-suffragism was a political movement composed of both men and women that began in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. To ...
views. When she wasn't painting or organizing community events, Whitfield could often be found
birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...
and recording her findings with scientific meticulousness. She wrote an article detailing her backyard observations of a pair of nesting
yellow-throated vireo The yellow-throated vireo (''Vireo flavifrons'') is a small American songbird. Etymology "Vireo" is a Latin word referring to a green migratory bird, perhaps the female golden oriole, possibly the European greenfinch. The specific ''flavifrons' ...
s that was published in the journal ''
Bird-Lore ''Audubon'' is the flagship journal of the National Audubon Society. It is profusely illustrated and focuses on subjects related to nature, with a special emphasis on birds. New issues are published bi-monthly for society members. An active bl ...
'' (now known as simply ''
Audubon The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such org ...
'') in 1920. Inez Harrington Whitfield died on June 26, 1951, in
Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...
at the age of 84. She is buried at Armory Hill Cemetery in her hometown of
Ilion, New York Ilion is a village in Herkimer County, New York, United States. Located in the Mohawk Valley region, the population was 7,646 at the 2020 census. The village is at the northern edge of the town of German Flatts, though a tiny portion is in th ...
.


Career

Though Whitfield received
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...
instruction in education and worked for several years as both a schoolteacher and a
principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...
, her struggles with
rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...
forced her to leave the profession in the early 1900s. She began
watercolor painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...
in the 1930s and became well known in the Arkansas area for her accurate depictions of native plant life. In 1935, she appeared in a publication about female leaders titled ''American Women''.


Educator

After Whitfield graduated from
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
in 1889, she moved back to New York and began teaching at the Gardner Institute for Girls. Soon after, she left the school in favor of collaborating with her friend and colleague Caroline E. Bliss. The pair formed the Whitfield-Bliss School for Girls in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in late 1896, before Whitfield's move to Arkansas. The Whitfield-Bliss School for Girls, sometimes listed as the Mount Morris Park School, operated as a girls'
boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: **Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where hor ...
and
day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...
from 1896 until 1901 at 41. W. 124th St. in
Harlem, Manhattan Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
. The
row house A terrace, terraced house (British English, UK), or townhouse (American English, US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses party wall, sharing side walls. In the United States ...
had previously served as a private residence and would eventually serve as a community meeting house for several decades once the school was closed. The school was successful until Inez's arthritis forced them to close in 1901 as she sought treatment outside of the state of New York. As of 2022 the building still stands, now known as the Antioch Church of God.


Artist

In the 1930s, Inez began the project that would soon become her life's passion: painting the native wildflowers of Arkansas. By the time she died in 1951, she had painted more than five hundred original
watercolor painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...
s of wildflowers, organized according to location and blooming season. She recorded every flower's exact colors and size and properly labeled them with both their
common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...
and Latin names. She traversed the area's many hiking trails in her wheelchair to collect the perfect flowers to paint, eventually becoming so well known that strangers would bring her plants from all over the state that they thought were particularly excellent specimens. She had an especially good relationship with many of the local
Boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is usually described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy ...
and
Girl Scouts Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of The Girl Guides ...
, who would happily help her scavenge for the best example of a particular flower. Whitfield replanted nearly all of the flowers she used as references as soon as she was done with them. In her lifetime, Whitfield exhibited her watercolor paintings at the
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...
, the gallery at the Garden of Nations, the
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
in
Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...
, and the Hot Springs Fine Arts Center. She was given a posthumous solo exhibition at the latter in 1986 as part of Arkansas'
Sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...
Celebration.


Collections

In the 1940s, the Federated Women's Clubs of Arkansas purchased more than four hundred
botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
paintings by Inez Harrington Whitfield and donated them to the Arkansas Arts Center, now known as the
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA), formerly known as the Arkansas Arts Center, is an art museum located in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum's most recent expansion and renovation was designed by architecture and urban des ...
in
Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
. The purchase was the result of several years of campaigning and fundraising by Arkansas' various women's clubs and the
American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances Justice, equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide Social net ...
. * Over 350 individual works, ca. 1935,
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA), formerly known as the Arkansas Arts Center, is an art museum located in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum's most recent expansion and renovation was designed by architecture and urban des ...
. *Original paintings and photographs of Inez Harrington Whitfield, 1901–1951, Garland County Historical Society.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington Whitfield, Inez 1867 births 1951 deaths People from Ilion, New York Smith College alumni Educators from New York (state) American botanical illustrators Artists from Arkansas American anti-suffragists