Clara Endicott Sears (1863–1960) was a
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
author, preservationist, and philanthropist.
Biography
Sears was born to a wealthy
Yankee
The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...
family in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in 1863. Her parents were Knyvet Winthrop Sears and Mary Crowninshield (Peabody) Sears. Sears was educated at private schools in Boston and by tutors in Europe. She authored several historical works as well as poetry, romantic works and popular songs for
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
[Cynthia H. Barton, ''History's Daughter: The Life of Clara Endicott Sears Founder of Fruitlands Museums'' (CLB Publications, 1988) ()]
In 1910 Sears purchased a summer estate in
Harvard, Massachusetts
Harvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is located 25 miles west-northwest of Boston, in eastern Massachusetts. A farming community settled in 1658 and incorporated in 1732, it has been home to several ...
, which included the farmhouse that was part of a failed
Transcendentalist community known as the
Fruitlands or consociate family. After restoring the house, and collecting numerous materials, Sears opened the building as the
Fruitlands Museum
Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts, is a museum about multiple visions of America on the site of the short-lived utopian community, Fruitlands (transcendental center), Fruitlands. The museum includes the Fruitlands farmhouse (a National ...
in 1914. On carriage rides through the Harvard countryside she came upon the Shaker village, and became close friends with the remaining sisters. When the
Shaker
Shaker or Shakers may refer to:
Religious groups
* Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect
* Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination
Objects and instruments
* Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone
* Cock ...
community closed in 1918, it was purchased by
Fiske Warren
Frederick Fiske Warren (2 July 1862 – 2 February 1938) was a successful paper manufacturer, fine arts doyen, United States tennis champion of 1893, and major supporter of Henry George's single tax system which he helped develop in Harvard, ...
a proponent for a single tax enclave. Sears purchased a small structure built in 1794 that had been used as an office building for many decades by the Harvard Shakers. Warren moved it to her property. The old office became the second museum at Fruitlands, opening in 1922, in an effort to preserve the Shaker legacy. Sears also worked with
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, with ...
at Harvard University in acquiring a Native American collection to display at the museum. Sears transferred all the museum assets to Fruitlands and the Wayside Museums, Inc., in 1930. By this time the property included about 458 acres. Also during the 1930s, she collected early 19th-century primitive portraits and built a gallery to display them in 1939. She also collected
Hudson River School
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, ...
paintings and other American folk art for the museum. Sears was awarded a gold medal by the National Society of New England Women in 1942. She was a member of the
Colonial Dames of America
The Colonial Dames of America (CDA) is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor who lived in British America from 1607 to 1775, and was of service to the colonies by either holding public office, being in th ...
, the
New England Historic Genealogical Society
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845.
NEHGS provides family history services through its staff, original scholarship, website,[Society of Mayflower Descendants
The General Society of ''Mayflower'' Descendants — commonly called the Mayflower Society — is a hereditary organization of individuals who have documented their descent from at least one of the 102 passengers who arrived on the ''Mayflower'' ...]
. Clara Endicott Sears died in Boston in 1960.
Works
*''Prentice Mulford's Works'' (compiled) (1913)
*''The Power Within'', writings of various New Thought authors (compiled) (1911)
*
Bronson Alcott's Fruitlands' (Houghton Mifflin, 1915)
*
Gleanings from Old Shaker Journals' (Houghton Mifflin, 1916)
*
The Bell-Ringer: an old-time village tale' (Houghton Mifflin, 1918)
*''Peace Anthem'' (1919)
*
The Romance of Fiddler's green' (Houghton Mifflin, 1922)
*''
Days of Delusions, a history of the Millerites'' (1924)
*''Whispering Pines: A Romance on a New England Hillside'' (1930)
*''The Great Powwow'' (1934)
*''Wind from the Hills'' (1935)
*''Some American Primitives'' (1941)
*''Highlights Among the Hudson River Artists'' (1947)
*''Snapshots from Old Registers (taken from the registers of 1880–1900 of the Hotel Vendome in Boston)'' (1955)
*''Early Personal Reminiscences in the Old George Peabody Mansion in Salem'' (1956).
See also
*
Fruitlands Museum
Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts, is a museum about multiple visions of America on the site of the short-lived utopian community, Fruitlands (transcendental center), Fruitlands. The museum includes the Fruitlands farmhouse (a National ...
References
External links
Sears biographyFruitlands Museum*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, Clara Endicott
1863 births
1960 deaths
American women philanthropists
Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery
Writers from Boston
People from Harvard, Massachusetts
Philanthropists from Massachusetts
20th-century American philanthropists
20th-century women philanthropists
American women non-fiction writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American women writers