Vinton Liddell Pickens (January 1, 1900 – November 25, 1993) was an American artist and activist based in

Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County ...

, where she chaired the county's first planning board from 1941 to 1964.

Early life

Vinton Liddell was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, the daughter of Vinton Liddell Sr. and Jane Hyde Hall Liddell (later Battle). Her parents were both born in Pennsylvania; her father owned a cotton mill, and died in 1915. She attended the

Shipley School The Shipley School is an independent pre-K12 college preparatory school in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately 10 miles west-northwest of Philadelphia. History Hannah Shipley, Elizabeth Shipley, and Katharine Shipley, all siste ...

and graduated from

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

in 1922. She pursued further studies in Rome, and at the University of North Carolina. She studied painting with Eugen Weisz. Janelia Farm

Career

In 1941, Pickens was appointed to the first Loudoun County planning commission, and became the commission's chair. On her watch, Loudoun County established zoning ordinances that banned billboards; she was also head of the commission during the construction of

Dulles Airport Washington Dulles International Airport ( ) – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located w ...

. She was also president of the Virginia Citizens' Planning Association. She led demonstrations against the

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

as an environmental hazard in the 1970s. Pickens was named Loudoun's 1986 Citizen of the Year. She gave an oral history interview to the Loudoun County Oral History Project in 1990. Pickens was also an artist, whose colorful landscapes and drawings were exhibited nationally, including a solo show at the

Mint Museum The Mint Museum, also referred to as The Mint Museums, is a cultural institution comprising two museums, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, together these two locations have hundreds of collecti ...

in Charlotte in 1954. She published a book about her travels in Sri Lanka, ''Serendipity'' (1964). She was an active member of the Bryn Mawr Alumnae Association, the Loudoun Sketch Club and the Leesburg Garden Club. In 1987, in her late eighties, Pickens took a four-week, 1160-mile canoe and houseboat trip from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, with her daughters and other friends, retracing the 1878 trip her great-grandfather took on the

Clarion Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The Register (music), register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A Trumpet (organ stop), trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave abov ...

, Allegheny, and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

rivers.

Personal life

Vinton Liddell married journalist Robert Sylvester Pickens in 1924. They had two daughters, Jane and Cornelia, and lived at Janelia Farm in Loudoun County from 1936. She was widowed when Robert Pickens died in 1978, and she died in 1993, aged 93 years. The Virginia legislature passed a resolution in tribute after her death. There is a collection of the Liddell and Pickens family papers at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

, and another collection of Liddell family papers at the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...

. Her farm in Loudoun County is now the

Janelia Research Campus Janelia Research Campus is a scientific research campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that opened in October 2006. The campus is located in Loudoun County, Virginia, near the town of Ashburn. It is known for its scientific research and m ...

of the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland with additional facilities in Ashburn, Virginia. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American busin ...

References

External links

Nicolas Sanson (1702), ''Atlas nouveau, contenant toutes les parties du monde''
; a map donated by Pickens to the Bryn Mawr College Library * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickens, Vinton Liddell 1900 births 1993 deaths American artists American women artists People from Charlotte, North Carolina People from Ashburn, Virginia Bryn Mawr College alumni Shipley School alumni