Isabelle Bowen Henderson (March 23, 1899 – May 19, 1969) was an American portraitist and

floriculturist Floriculture, or flower farming, is a branch of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry. The development of new varieties by plant breedin ...

. She taught art classes at various schools and at

North Carolina State College North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

and

Wake Forest College Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

. Specializing in crayon and oil paintings, she was commissioned to paint portraits of prominent figures including

Frank Porter Graham Frank Porter Graham (October 14, 1886 – February 16, 1972) was an American educator and political activist. A professor of history, he was elected President of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1930, and he later became the firs ...

and

I. Beverly Lake Sr. Isaac Beverly Lake Sr. (1906–1996), was an American jurist, law professor at Wake Forest University and Campbell University, and politician. He was born in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Early career A graduate of Wake Forest College and Harv ...

She later helped establish the

North Carolina Museum of Art The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It opened in 1956 as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by state legislation and funding. Since the initial 1947 appropriation that e ...

. Henderson was a renowned gardener and received awards from the National Society of State Garden Clubs and the National Horticulture Society for her hybridization of the

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

and

hemerocallis A daylily or day lily is a flowering plant in the genus ''Hemerocallis'' , a member of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. Despite the common name, it is not in fact a lily. Gardening enthusiasts and horticulturists hav ...

. Her home, the

Isabelle Bowen Henderson House and Gardens Isabelle Bowen Henderson House and Gardens is a historic home and garden and national historic district located at Raleigh, North Carolina. The main house is a modest 19th century turreted late Victorian period frame cottage, with a Colonial Re ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...

, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

Early life and education

Henderson was born Isabelle Bowen on March 23, 1899, in

. She was the daughter of Arthur Finn Bowen, the business manager of

, and Isabelle Woodward Bowen, a member of an old Wilmington family. She was one of six children. She was educated in

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

public schools before attending

Peace College William Peace University is a private college in Raleigh, North Carolina. Formerly affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, it offers undergraduate degrees in more than 30 majors and the School of Professional Studies (SPS) offers accelerated ba ...

, where she graduated in 1919. From 1921 to 1923, she spent summers studying art at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

and the School of Fine and Applied Arts in New York City. From 1924 to 1925, she was a student at the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mar ...

in Philadelphia.

Career

Art

From 1919 to 1921, Henderson taught art at the Centennial School in Raleigh. She moved to Pennsylvania and taught at College Hill School in Easton from 1922 to 1924. She also taught art during the summer sessions at North Carolina State College and at

. In 1936, Henderson opened an art studio in Raleigh and became known throughout Eastern North Carolina for her crayon portraits. In the 1940s, she continued painting in Raleigh and in Florida, where her husband was working as a professor. In addition to portrait commissions for wealthy North Carolinian families, Henderson was commissioned to paint oil portraits of

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which r ...

president

, North Carolina State College president Wallace Carl Riddick, North Carolina Supreme Court justice

, and the public official Charles Carroll of the

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' ...

. She was a member of the North Carolina Art Society and assisted in establishing the

. Henderson was partially responsible for the museum acquiring a collection of

Jugtown Pottery Jugtown Pottery was founded in 1921 by Jacques and Juliana Busbee, artists from Raleigh, North Carolina, who in 1917 discovered an orange pie dish and traced it back to Moore County. There, they found a local tradition of utilitarian pottery in or ...

. Some of her work is kept in the collection of the museum.

Gardening

Henderson's

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it ...

in Raleigh became famous for her garden, which included a collection of

and

. Her hybridization of the two flowers led to her receiving the highest award of the National Society of State Garden Clubs in 1951 and recognition from the National Horticulture Society. She was an active member of the Raleigh Garden Club and gave lectures to garden clubs throughout North Carolina.

Personal life

She married Edgar H. Henderson in 1932 and moved to

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropoli ...

, where her husband served on the faculty at

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

. She also spent time in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in ...

, where her husband served on the faculty at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. The Hendersons had one son, who died in infancy. Following their child's death, her husband suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized. The couple returned to Raleigh in 1936. Her father purchased a Victorian home on a 1.2-acre lot in the Oberlin Village neighborhood for Henderson and her husband to help them get back on their feet. Shortly after moving into the house, they separated. Henderson added three outbuildings to her residence to create a quadrangle, including an herb house and a two-car garage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Isabelle Bowen 1899 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American women painters American art educators American gardeners American portrait painters Floriculturists North Carolina State University faculty Painters from North Carolina Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni People from Raleigh, North Carolina Schoolteachers from North Carolina Wake Forest University faculty William Peace University alumni Women horticulturists and gardeners