Leila Usher (August 26, 1859 – August 13, 1955) was an American sculptor.

Biography

Leila Woodman Usher was born in

Onalaska, Wisconsin Onalaska is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,803 at the 2020 census. It borders the larger La Crosse, Wisconsin, and is a part of the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropolitan Area. Onalaska is built on a ...

on August 26, 1859, to parents Isaac Lane Usher and Susannah Coffin Woodman. She was a pupil of English sculptor H. H. Kitson in Boston, American George Brewster in Cambridge, and Irish-American

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trave ...

in New York, and also studied abroad in Paris and Rome. Bust of Booker T

Her best-known work is a 1902

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...

of educator

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

commissioned by the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

. She produced

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

portraits of many other prominent figures such as scholar

Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of r ...

, minister

Elijah Kellogg Elijah Kellogg, Jr. (May 20, 1813 – March 17, 1901) was an American Congregationalist minister, lecturer and author of popular boy's adventure books. Professional life Born in Portland, Maine, Kellogg was the son of a minister and mi ...

, and geologist

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

. Usher also created a bronze medallion of social reformer

Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...

, presented on April 21, 1902, to

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

. Anthony herself attended the ceremony and addressed the audience after the presentation. On September 27, 1915, Usher exhibited a replica of medallion at the Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Women Artists for the Benefit of Woman Suffrage Campaign held in New York, notable because it was the only portrait of a suffragist out of the 153 works displayed. Usher received the Bronze Medal at the 1895

Atlanta Exposition The Atlanta Exposition Speech was an address on the topic of race relations given by African-American scholar Booker T. Washington on September 18, 1895. The speech, presented before a predominantly white audience at the Cotton States and In ...

, and her work was also awarded at the 1915

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely se ...

. Usher's sculptures are held in the collections of institutions such as

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, and

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

. She died at St. Luke's Hospital in New York on August 13, 1955, aged 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Usher, Leila 1850s births 1955 deaths 19th-century American sculptors 20th-century American sculptors American women sculptors People from Onalaska, Wisconsin Sculptors from Wisconsin 19th-century American women artists 20th-century American women artists American expatriates in France American expatriates in Italy