Although the marriage and death of the 19th-century Bostonian Marian 亚洲色吧淐lover亚洲色吧� Adams were well documented, it was the story that hadn亚洲色吧檛 been told that most fascinated Dr. Natalie Dykstra of the Hope College English faculty.
In telling it in her newly published biography 亚洲色吧淐lover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life亚洲色吧� (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Dykstra had a crucial ally: Clover Adams herself, whose letters and artistic eye, as expressed in her portrait and landscape photography, provide a new and compelling view of her life.
The result, according to 亚洲色吧淟ibrary Journal,亚洲色吧� 亚洲色吧渞eads as well as any page-turning novel,亚洲色吧� while Booklist has said, 亚洲色吧淒ykstra亚洲色吧檚 contextually rich and psychologically discerning portrait of an underappreciated luminary is enlightening and affecting.亚洲色吧�
Clover Adams was born to a prominent Boston family in 1843 and at 28 married Henry Adams, a respected historian and writer who was descended from two U.S. presidents. The couple亚洲色吧檚 Washington, D.C., home hosted the city亚洲色吧檚 intellectual and political elite. By the standards of the day, Clover Adams seemed to have everything, and yet in 1885, at age 42, she succumbed to depression and took her own life by drinking a poisonous chemical she used to develop her photographs.
Dykstra was interested in better understanding the fascinating woman who had been overshadowed by her marriage and the circumstances of her death. For a decade, she has dedicated herself to reviewing a rich mix of primary sources, including previously unknown family letters and a unique visual record: the 113 photographs that Clover had taken and developed herself in the last two years of her life, images that were technically and artistically remarkable, skillfully composed and accompanied by meticulous notes. The materials provided insight not only into Clover亚洲色吧檚 life, but into her sharp mind and sensitive spirit.
亚洲色吧淐lover was known for her marriage and for committing suicide. The last act of her life had defined her, and she亚洲色吧檇 become no more than an emblem of loss and suffering,亚洲色吧� said Dykstra, an associate professor of English who has taught at Hope since 2000. 亚洲色吧淭his seemed so unfair. I tried to stay close to her words and her photographs and to understand these sources as fully as possible to see her life from her point of view.亚洲色吧�
Where Dykstra had seen Clover sometimes characterized as physically fragile or weak, Clover亚洲色吧檚 letters and photographs亚洲色吧攕everal of the latter are in the book--told a different story.
亚洲色吧淪he was far from that. She was an athlete. She was fearless on horseback. She was engaged by her world,亚洲色吧� Dykstra said. 亚洲色吧淪he was this very vibrant person, with a sharp wit, who in her last years sank into a depression that engulfed her.亚洲色吧�
One of Clover亚洲色吧檚 photographs, for example, shows three dogs posed at tea, an image, Dykstra said, created as 亚洲色吧渁 send-up of a social convention she occasionally found tedious.亚洲色吧� Another shows graves at Arlington National Cemetery, accompanied by, in Latin, the sentence 亚洲色吧淵ou sleep in our memory,亚洲色吧� and a quote in German from Goethe亚洲色吧檚 亚洲色吧淔aust.亚洲色吧�
Dykstra亚洲色吧檚 interest in Clover Adams began at the end of her doctoral studies at the University of Kansas, where her dissertation focused on self-representation in women亚洲色吧檚 autobiographical writing in the 19th and 20th century. After completing her Ph.D., she conducted research through a Ruth R. Miller Fellowship in Women亚洲色吧檚 History from the Massachusetts Historical Society, which houses Clover亚洲色吧檚 photographs and letters in their large collection of Adams family papers.
Since 2001, she has spent most every summer and a series of sabbatical leaves working on the project at the Society, where she is now a Fellow. In 2005, she received a Fellowship for College Teachers and Independent Scholars from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support her research.
Although the book is complete, Dykstra is spending the current semester at the Society, where she has been putting together a gallery show of Clover亚洲色吧檚 photographs. Dykstra selected almost 40 images and has written the accompanying wall text and labels for exhibition that the society is featuring from Thursday, Feb. 9, through Saturday, June 2.
At last, she noted, Clover Adams will be in the spotlight for what she accomplished.
亚洲色吧淚 think what I亚洲色吧檓 most happy about is that almost 130 years after she first picked up her camera, Clover is going to get her first photography show,亚洲色吧� Dykstra said.
Copies of 亚洲色吧淐lover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life亚洲色吧� are available for $26 at the college亚洲色吧檚 Hope-Geneva Bookstore as well as at other area booksellers. More about Clover Adams, including examples of her photography, is available at the Massachusetts Historical Society亚洲色吧檚 website, .