Violet Dandridge was the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

for Serena Katherine Dandridge (1878–1956), an American

scientific illustrator Technical illustration is illustration meant to visually communicate information of a technical nature. Technical illustrations can be components of technical drawings or diagrams. Technical illustrations in general aim "to generate expressive im ...

, painter,

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

. She was the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

’s first female scientific illustrator.

Early life

Serena Katherine Dandridge was born March 15, 1878, in her family home of " Rose Brake" in Shepherdstown,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, and was raised there. Some sources state she was born at " The Bower" the Dandridge family home on the Opequon River near Bower, West Virginia. Her parents were Adam Stephen Dandridge and poet Caroline Dane "Danske" Bedinger Dandridge; she was the eldest of three siblings which included Stephen Hawks and Dorothea Spotswood. Her father had served as a soldier under

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern the ...

. She was a descendant of

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 Old Style, O.S. – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, who was the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the ...

(née Martha Dandridge). In 1896, at the age of 18, she moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to study fine art. The following year she moved back to Shepherdstown after her younger brother unexpectedly died while he was attending university. Her younger sister died in 1907.

Career and mid-life

Dandridge moved back to Washington, D.C., in 1903 and worked as a scientific illustrator for the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

in the Smithsonian Institution. She had worked under zoologists Mary Jane Rathbun and

Austin Hobart Clark Austin Hobart Clark (December 17, 1880 in Wellesley, Massachusetts – October 28, 1954 in Washington, D.C.) was an American zoologist who studied oceanography, marine biology, ornithology and entomology. Personal life The son of Theodore ...

, in order to create images for their publications. In August 1911, Dandridge and Mary Jane Rathbun were conducting research on marine biology and travelled to South Harpswell,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, and

Woods Hole Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwestern corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 78 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. On this trip they were documenting the east coast invertebrates for an exhibition and Dandridge made color sketches of

littoral The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely i ...

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s, so Rathbun could later transfer the observed colors to the preserved specimens. In 1914, she had been committed by her parents to

Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital, known to many simply as Sheppard Pratt, is a psychiatric hospital located in Towson, a northern suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1853, it is one of the oldest private psychiatric hospitals in the n ...

, a psychiatric hospital for “nervousness”. She spent the rest of her life having periods of hospitalization. During one of her hospital stays in June 1914, her mother Danske Dandridge had committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

; however, this was concealed by the family in concerns for Dandridge's health. Dandridge attended the 1915 Annual Convention of the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National Woma ...

, she had subscribed to ''

The Suffragist ''The Suffragist'' was a weekly newspaper published by the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage in 1913 to advance the cause of women's suffrage. The publication was first envisioned as a small pamphlet by the Congressional Union (CU), a new ...

'', a weekly newspaper; she donated to the

West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association The West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association (WVESA) was an organization formed on November 29, 1895, at a conference in Grafton, West Virginia. This conference and the subsequent annual conventions were an integral part of the National American Wo ...

; and she had arranged for a speaker from the National American Woman Suffrage Association to visit Shepherdstown. In 1916, she led a suffragist parade in her hometown. In 1930, Dandridge protested the cutting of cedar trees in Sheperdstown by acts of physical resistance, she clung to one of the trees blocking their removal. Dandridge was a winter member of the ''Art League of Manatee'' in

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area. Dow ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. In 1939, she exhibited her painting, "Le Chene Seigneurial" of an oak tree at

Salon des Artistes Français The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

in Paris. The Paris magazine ''Les Artistes d'Aujourd' Hui'' published an article in 1939 featuring Dandridge.

Late life, death and legacy

She eventually moved back to her family home of "Rose Brake" and lived with her cousin Nina Mitchell; neither woman had married and they operated a dairy farm and raised sheep and cows. Dandridge died on November 7, 1956, after one of her many trips returning to Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital for treatment. She is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Sheperdstown.

Duke University Libraries Duke University Libraries is the library system of Duke University, serving the university's students and faculty. The Libraries collectively hold some 6 million volumes. The collection contains 17.7 million manuscripts, 1.2 million public docum ...

and Shepherd University have her archive and papers. In 2016, Shepherd University's Scarborough Library had an exhibition of her sketches and drawings.

References

External links

*
Bedinger and Dandridge Family papers, 1752-2000
Duke University Libraries
Example of one of drawings, ''Lycenchelys jordani''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dandridge, Violet 1878 births 1956 deaths American scientific illustrators American women illustrators People from Shepherdstown, West Virginia Dandridge family (Virginia) American naturalists Painters from West Virginia Women naturalists Farmers from West Virginia 20th-century American farmers Suffragists from West Virginia 20th-century American women farmers 20th-century American women painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American illustrators