Alice Merrill Horne (1868–1948) was a Utah artist and politician.
Biography
Early life and education
Alice Merrill Horne (called Allie in her youth) was born in
Fillmore, Utah Territory, to Clarence Merrill and his wife Bathsheba (Kate) Smith.
Her maternal grandparents were
George A. Smith and
Bathsheba W. Smith
Bathsheba Wilson Bigler Smith (May 3, 1822 – September 20, 1910) was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement. She was the fourth general president of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church ...
.
Horne earned a teaching certificate and degree in pedagogy at the
University of Deseret
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
(now the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
). She also studied at the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...
and was later instructed privately by artists
John Hafen
John Hafen (March 22, 1856 – June 3, 1910) was a Swiss-born American artist, primarily of landscapes and portraits.
As a child, Hafen immigrated to the United States from Switzerland and settled in Utah. There, he demonstrated artistic abilitie ...
,
George M. Ottinger,
J. T. Harwood,
Herman Haag,
Mary Teasdel, and
Henry Taggart.
Alice Merrill Horne married George H. Horne in 1890. They met while Alice Horne was organizing a Shakespearean Society.
George would spend much of his career as a banker in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
.
Early in their marriage, George served as a
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) in the southern United States, and during this time Alice worked as a schoolteacher at the Washington School in Salt Lake City.
George and Alice had six children (including Lyman, Virginia, Zorah, Albert).
Horne was made chair of the Utah's Liberal Arts Committee for the 1893 Columbian Exposition and World's Fair in Chicago.
Political Career and Leadership Positions
In 1898, Horne was elected to the
Utah House of Representatives
The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district cont ...
(
3rd Utah State Legislature) representing the Salt Lake Eighth District.
She served for one term (1898-1900) and made many notable contributions in a short time. She advocated for many bills that eventually became law. While many of them revolved around the arts and education, she did not limit her influence to those areas alone. While in the state legislature, she was a key force behind enacting a bill to create a state art institute and to create a state art collection.
The latter is today named th
Alice Art Collectionafter her (
State of Utah Art Collections
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
).
Professor William M. Stewart of the University of Utah brought a scholarship bill to her and asked for her help with it. It was passed, and by 1921 had provided more than 8,000 students with scholarships.
Among others, Horne campaigned for a Public Health bill, an Art bill, and a Fish and Game bill. She served on the Rules, Public Health, and Education and Art committees during her term in office
and was also chair of the new University Land-Site Committee that oversaw the acquisition for the current site of the University of Utah.
In 1901, Horne was called as a member of the general board of the LDS Church's
Relief Society
The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 18 ...
. She served on the board until 1916
and during part of this time was chair of the art committee.
In 1904, she served as a delegate on behalf of the Relief Society to the International Congress of Women held in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, where she delivered two addresses.
She served as president of the
Daughters of the Utah Pioneers
The International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers (ISDUP, DUP) is a women's organization dedicated to preserving the history of the original settlers of the geographic area covered by the State of Deseret and Utah Territory, including Mormon pio ...
from April 11, 1903, to April 24, 1905.
She was a leader and advocate in numerous other ways, including as a regent of the
Daughters of the Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence.
A non-profit group, they promote ...
and the Chair of the Utah branch of the National Peace Society.
Horne also played a role in organizing the Women's Chamber of Commerce in Salt Lake City as well as the Smokeless Fuel Federation.
Horne authored two books at this time in her life: ''Devotees and Their Shrines''
and ''Columbus, Westward Ho!.''
The former is a handbook of Utah art and artists that aligns with her continual promotion of the arts throughout her life's work. A portion of her introduction to the book reads, "God has created gifts, and men work so that we are not without poets, painters, sculptors, architects, craftsmen, gardeners and home makers. So long as talent and industry unite there will be art—original, spontaneous, inspirational—the kind that lives. We are all artists to a degree, or at least let us believe that Providence so intended."
Moving away from the description of art and towards the production of it, Horne's 1922 ''Columbus, Westward Ho!'' is the script of a play that she authored. Intended for young audiences, it is a retelling of the
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
story.
Starting in the 1920s, Horne ran an art gallery with the main goal of exhibiting and selling works of inter-mountain artists. Her husband died in 1934 and she continued to run the art gallery until her own death in 1948.
Accolades
* First inductee to the Salt Lake City Council of Women's Hall of Fame
* Was given a Medal of Honor for civic service from the Academy of Western Culture
* 2nd woman in Utah to be elected to a state office
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horne, Alice Merrill
1869 births
1948 deaths
American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Members of the Utah House of Representatives
People from Fillmore, Utah
Presidents of Daughters of Utah Pioneers
University of Utah alumni
Smith family (Latter Day Saints)
Relief Society people
Women state legislators in Utah
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American painters
19th-century American women politicians
19th-century American women painters
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American painters
20th-century American women politicians
20th-century American women painters
Painters from Utah