Grace Voss Frederick

Grace Voss Frederick (November 3, 1905 – January 16, 2009)[1][2] was the creator of the Grace Museum of America and the Grace Museum for the Preservation of Americana. The museum in Cave Creek, Arizona contains art, antiques, and other items of historical interest from the past two centuries.[3]

She has lived through about half of the history that's detailed in the Grace Museum of America.

Frederick honed her acting while she was a young vaudeville and Broadway actress. Her talents were useful in many ways during the tours she gave at the Grace Museum. As well as guiding tours, she also provided the voices for mannequins on display during the tours.[3]

Background

Born in 1905 in Yonkers, moved to Brooklyn, her father was a printer; she studied theater, fencing, and Shakespeare in theatrical school, then worked in vaudeville and on Broadway until 1931.[4] She had interests in photography, many travels, finally finding home in Arizona in 1970.[4]

Awards

In 1994, Frederick received the YWCA award as a philanthropist and is a member of the YWCA Tribute to Women Alumnae.[5]

2008, The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) awarded Frederick the DAR Medal of Honor during the DAR National convention in May of that year (Sonoran News, 2008).[1][2] The award is presented to those showing exemplary leadership, trustworthiness, service and patriotism.[5]

Television

During the tour, a picture of a youthful Frederickson can be seen in a display in which the article informs of her television dialogs and pantomimes.[4] Grace Voss was in fact one of the first women to act on television and Frederson has stated that the experimental media of the time seemed more like a hobby than anything groundbreaking.[4] Her television acts consisted of monologues and pantomimes; performed through 1931.[4]

Claude Frederick

Grace Voss finished acting and began working with photography.[3] She met Claude and for a time they created backgrounds for television sets.[3] Later, the two traveled much of the world finally settling comfortably in Arizona.[4] Claude died in 1981 and Grace soon began work on the Grace Museum of America which showcases 200 years of history.[3] Frederick was proud that the museum was able to show the "development and progress in all kinds of ways".[4]

Claude, along with the help of Grace, invented the "Apparatus for projecting multiple superposed images"; which they called it a “Three-Plex” tushar.[6]

Modern advances and nature

Technological advancements amazed Frederick, but she enjoyed nature as well (Coomes, 2005).

Her home, in which she lived for almost 35 years, was high in the Sonoran Desert.[3] Although her home was near the museum, the location was full of many types of nature and wildlife.[3] Most of the surrounding areas were undeveloped and the most common residents are deer and peccary also known as javelina.[3] Grace would regularly enjoy the animals with the company of her friend and neighbor, Eileen Kettner.[3]

More than a dozen deer frequent the yard outside Frederick's home and are regularly accompanied by javelina during "feeding time".[3] Frederick had stated that she has seen a mountain lion on occasion, as well.[3]

Donations

In 2001, Frederick gave 90 acres (360,000 m2) of her land to the Arizona State University Foundation.[7] She also donated $6 million to create a center for cultural improvement.[7] Frederick considered the land her "heavenly view of nature" and the donation ensured that the land would stay preserved in its natural state.[7]

References
  1. "Grace Voss Frederick". Sonoran News. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  2. "Grace Voss Frederick" (PDF). Cave Creek Museum Nuggets. March 2009. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  3. "Actress, 100, brings museum of Americana to life". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  4. "The challenges evacuees face as a result of the Rodeo-Chedeski wildfire". Michael Grant. 2002. Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  5. "YWCA Tribute to Women Alumnae". Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  6. Apparatus for projecting multiple superposed images United States Patent 3036496.
  7. "104 Wonderful Memorable Years". Azfamily.com. 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
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