Adelaide S. Hall
{{Infobox person
| image = Adelaide Susan Hall (Two Travelers in Europe, 1898).png
| alt = B&W portrait photo of a middle-aged woman wearing an over-sized white blouse, with her hair in an up-do
| caption = Hall in 1898
| birth_name = Adelaide Susan Wade
| birth_date = November 2, 1857
| birth_place = Westmoreland, New York, U.S.
| death_date = June 3, 1924 (aged 66)
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| alma_mater = Normal School at Buffalo, New York
| other_names = Mrs. Herman J. Hall
| occupation = art connoisseur, curator, promoter, critic; park supporter
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse = {{marriage|Herman J. Hall|1876}}
| signature = Adelaide S. Hall signature (Two women abroad, 1897).png
}}
Adelaide S. Hall ({{nee}}, Wade; 1857-1924) was an American art connoisseur, curator, promoter and critic, as well as a park supporter. She took an active part in Chicago and nationally in the promotion of art, especially in parks and public places. Hall was associated with the women's club movement.
Early life and education
Adelaide Susan Wade was born in Westmoreland, New York, November 2, 1857. Her parents were Schuyler and Susan (Waldo) Wade.
After completing her general education in the Normal School at Buffalo, New York (later, Buffalo State University), she pursued studies in oil and watercolor painting{{cite book |title=Who's who in America |date=1912 |publisher=A.N. Marquis |page=886 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2tfJdDZ1eicC&pg=PA886 |access-date=16 June 2025 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}} with private tutors.
Career
File:Adelaide S. Hall (Two women abroad, 1897).png
In 1888, Hall founded the Archè Club of Chicago and was its president until 1897, except for one year. She was a curator of the New Gallery, Chicago Academy of Fine Arts; and a museum instructor and lecturer in the Art Institute of Chicago.{{cite book |title=Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-l9l5 |date=1914 |publisher=American Commonwealth Company |page=353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGRIMtCVztEC&pg=PA353 |access-date=16 June 2025 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}} She took the initiative in interesting the Women's Clubs of Chicago and vicinity in work for artists, and from this effort grew the custom of holding, during the winter, artist's exhibits at the art institute and the buying of pictures by clubs. Every year, many paintings were purchased, thus giving encouragement to the artists. A society called the Artist's Association was the outgrowth with Hall as vice-president. She was an officer of the Chicago Chapter of the D.A.R. She was one of the organizers of the Art Association of Chicago which consolidated with the Municipal Art league in 1900-01. The Art association, of which Hall was always an officer or director, instituted many of the movements toward municipal art. Artists and the Art Institute were also encouraged in various ways by this association.
File:Adelaide S. Hall (Chicago Tribune, 1901).png
File:Adelaide Susan Hall (The Chautauquan, 1906).png
In 1900, she founded the Woman's Auxiliary of the American Park and Outdoor Art Association, which was one of the most active factors in promoting improved conditions in public art, and was for the first three years its president.{{cite news |title=Chicago Woman Patron of Art Honored. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-chicago-woman-patron-of/174621759/ |access-date=16 June 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |via=Newspapers.com |date=29 June 1901 |pages=3 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}} She was the founder of the Los Angeles Outdoor Art League, an honorary member of the Art League of San Francisco, and an honorary member of the California Outdoor League. She served as first chair, Executive Committee, Municipal Art League of Chicago; member, Outdoor Art League of Chicago; and honorary member, Park Board of Audubon Park in New Orleans.
Hall served as the first chair of the Art Committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC) and also of the Illinois State Federation of Women's Clubs. She had charge of the art sessions at the Denver biennial and the Milwaukee meeting of the GFWC.{{cite news |title=Some of the Talent. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-journal-some-of-the-talent/174620657/ |access-date=16 June 2025 |work=The Daily Journal |via=Newspapers.com |date=29 March 1900 |location=Freeport, Illinois |pages=4 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}
Hall attended the Exposition Universelle (1900) to study Art Nouveau. She was the author of Two Women Abroad (1897), and Import Symbols in Their Hebrew, Pagan and Christian Form. She was a contributor to magazines on topics of art and travel. She lectured on arts and crafts topics as well as playgrounds, including in New York City, Salt Lake City, Utah, Nashville, Tennessee, and Davenport, Iowa.{{cite book |last1=Logan |first1=Mrs John A. |title=The Part Taken by Women in American History |date=1912 |publisher=Perry-Nalle Publishing Company |page=858 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3AThe_part_taken_by_women_in_American_history.djvu/901 |via=Wikisource |access-date=16 June 2025 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}{{cite news |title=Art instructor makes address at Centennial Club. Mrs. Herman J. Hall Tells of Art in Temples ... |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tennessean-art-instructor-makes-addr/174579137/ |location=Nashville, Tennessee |access-date=16 June 2025 |work=The Tennessean |via=Newspapers.com |date=13 January 1923 |pages=7 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}{{cite news |title=Mrs. Herman J. Hall to Address Club. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-times-mrs-herman-j-hall-to-a/174621318/ |access-date=16 June 2025 |work=The Daily Times |via=Newspapers.com |date=8 April 1910 |location=Davenport, Iowa |pages=13 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}
She favored woman's suffrage.
Personal life
On April 13, 1876, in Buffalo, she married Herman J. Hall, and thereafter resided in Chicago, Illinois.{{cite book |title=Men and Women of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries |date=1909 |publisher=L.R. Hamersly |page=765 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KOgUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA765 |access-date=16 June 2025 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}} Their children were Leone and Alma.
Adelaide Susan Hall died in Los Angeles, California, June 3, 1924.{{cite news |title=Club Woman to be Buried Today. Mrs. Herman J. Hall. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-plain-dealer-club-woman-to-be-buried/174623276/ |access-date=16 June 2025 |work=The Plain Dealer |via=Newspapers.com |date=8 June 1924 |location=Cleveland, Ohio |pages=11 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}{{cite news |title=Adelaide S. Hall. June 3, 1924, Los Angeles. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-adelaide-s-hall/174623815/ |access-date=16 June 2025 |work=The Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |date=4 June 1924 |pages=18 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}
Selected works
- Two women abroad : what they saw and how they lived while travelling among the semi-civilized people of Morocco, the peasants of Italy and France, as well as the educated classes of Spain, Greece, and other countries (1897) ([https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nc01.ark:/13960/t0ht2tw3h&seq=7 text])
- A glossary of important symbols in their Hebrew, pagan and Christian forms (1912) ([https://archive.org/details/cu31924014060440 text])
References
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Category:People from Westmoreland, New York
Category:American art historians
Category:American religious writers
Category:19th-century American travel writers
Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers
Category:19th-century American women writers
Category:20th-century American women writers