Violet Dandridge, was the

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

for Serena Katherine Dandridge (1878–1956), she was 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 ...

, painter, naturalist, 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 v ...

. She was the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

’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 state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, and was raised there. Some sources state she was born at "

The Bower The Bower is an 1806 residence, originally built in the Federal style in Jefferson County, West Virginia, USA. It was later remodeled with Gothic Revival features after a fire in 1892. The name appeared as early as 1753 when Major General Adam ...

" the Dandridge family home on the Opequon River near

Bower Bower may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Catherine, or The Bower'', an unfinished Jane Austen novel * A high-ranking card (usually a Jack) in certain card games: ** The Right and Left Bower (or Bauer), the two highest-ranking cards in the g ...

, 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 during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...

. She was a descendant of

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...

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

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, 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 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. In 2021, with 7 ...

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

Austin Hobart Clark Austin Hobart Clark (December 17, 1880 – October 28, 1954) was an American zoologist. He was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts and died in Washington, D.C. His research covered a wide range of topics including oceanography, marine biology, ...

, 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 state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, 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 southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

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

littoral The littoral zone 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 inundated), to coastal areas ...

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

, 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, Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1853, it is one of the oldest private psychiatric ...

, 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. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

; 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 ...

, 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. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries A settlement established by Maroons or escaped sl ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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

Salon des Artistes Français The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

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 documen ...

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''
1878 births 1956 deaths {{DEFAULTSORT:Dandridge, Violet Scientific illustrators American women painters American women illustrators People from Shepherdstown, West Virginia Dandridge family of Virginia 20th-century American women artists American suffragists American naturalists Painters from West Virginia Women naturalists West Virginia suffrage Farmers from West Virginia