Louise Kidder Sparrow

Louise Winslow Kidder Sparrow (January 1, 1884 – July 9, 1979) was an American sculptor and poet.

Early Life and Education

Born in Malden, Massachusetts, Sparrow was a graduate of Emerson College,[1] and began her artistic instruction in Europe at age 16.[2] Sparrow's father — Wellington Parker Kidder, the inventor of the noiseless typewriter — prints her first book of poetry, entitled Lyrics and Translations, in 1904. The volume won Sparrow admittance into The Boston Authors Club.[2]

Career

Sparrow moved to Washington, D.C. around 1909 with her husband. There, she engaged in further studies in sculpture, working with Henry Kirke Bush-Brown, Edmund C. Messer, and Ulric Stonewall Jackson Dunbar. Primarily a sculptor of portrait busts, she exhibited in numerous local, national, and international exhibits. She was a member of the Society of Washington Artists and the American Artists's Professional League. Her work received a variety of honors during her career including a diploma of honor from the Paris Colonial Exposition in 1931 and a bronze medal from the 1930 exhibition of the Society of Washington Artists.[3] Her plaster bust of Theodore E. Burton is currently in the collection of the United States Capitol;[4] she is also represented in the collections of the Western Reserve Historical Society, the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Observatory, the Montana State Capitol, and Howard University.[3] Her involvement in a serious car crash in 1934 ended her sculpture career.[2]

In the late 1920s or early-to-mid-1930s, Sparrow was hired as Editor of Translations for Star-Dust, A Journal of Poetry.[2] She also wrote over a dozen volumes of verse, the last titled Midnight Meditation and completed shortly before her death.

Personal life

In 1909, Sparrow married[2] Captain Herbert G. Sparrow of the United States Navy. The latter Sparrow died in 1924 when his ship, the USS Tacoma (CL-20), ran aground in Mexico; she later wrote the book The Last Cruise about the incident. In 1910, the couple's son, Herbert G. Sparrow, was born. The younger Herbert later became a major general in the United States Army. Louise Sparrow died in 1979 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after a myocardial infarction.[1] She is buried with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.[5]

Legacy

Sparrow's papers are today held at the Harvard University Libraries and National Museum of Women in the Arts. The latter institution holds a variety of tools used by Sparrow to sculpt.

Published Works[6]

Works of Poetry

  • Lyrics and Translations (privately printed, 1904)[2]
  • The Last Cruise (Stratford Co., 1926)
  • My World Constitution (1938)
  • Narrative Poems: from Journal in Verse (Branden Press, 1970)
  • A Handful of Lyrics: from Journal in Verse (Thom Henricks Associates, 1970)
  • Violets and Mimosa: from Journal in Verse (Thom Henricks Associates, 1971)
  • Epic of the Sea: A Drama of Navy Life (1971)
  • Spiced Herbs and Rose Petals from the Old Blue Jar (Thom Henricks Associates, 1971)
  • Tales Retold at Twilight (1972)
  • Basket of Pansies (1974)
  • The Gentle Hours of Fresh Delights (Transcripts, 1976)
  • The Steed of Bengaray (J&C Transcripts, 1976)
  • Virginia Byways (n.d.)
  • Midnight Meditation (n.d.)

Translations

  • Tankas by Nico D. Horiguchi (Erskine MacDonald, 1925)
  • Air Temple by Daigaku Horiguchi (Abrams Press, 1972)
  • The Might of Wings: Poets of Many Lands (n.d.)

References
  1. Joyce, Maureen (12 July 1979). "Louise Sparrow, 95, Sculptor, Author, Poet". Retrieved 27 December 2017 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  2. "Guide to the Louise Kidder Sparrow Papers 1900-1986" (PDF).
  3. Virgil E. McMahan (1995). The Artists of Washington, D.C., 1796–1996. Artists of Washington. ISBN 978-0-9649101-0-2.
  4. "Women Artists". Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  5. Arlington National Cemetery
  6. "Sparrow, Louise Kidder: WorldCat Identities".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.