1. Violet Oakley was the first American woman to receive a public mural commission.
16 Facts About Violet Oakley
1. 2.
Violet Oakley was born in Bergen Heights, a section of Jersey City, New Jersey, into a family of artists.
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Violet Oakley's parents were Arthur Edmund Oakley and Cornelia Swain.
4.
Violet Oakley had early success as a popular illustrator for The Century Magazine, Collier's Weekly, St Nicholas Magazine, and Woman's Home Companion.
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Violet Oakley was an early advocate of nuclear disarmament after World War II.
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Violet Oakley was raised in the Episcopal church but in 1903 became a devoted student of Christian Science after a significant healing of asthma while she was doing preparatory study for the first set of Harrisburg murals in Florence, Italy.
7.
Violet Oakley was a member of Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Philadelphia from 1912, when it was organized, until her death in 1961.
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Edith Emerson 8.
Violet Oakley received many honors through her life including an honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree in 1948 from Drexel Institute.
9.
At the 1904 Saint Louis International Exposition, Violet Oakley won the gold medal in illustration for her watercolors for "The Story of Vashti," and the silver medal in mural decoration for her murals at All Angels' Church.
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In 1996, Violet Oakley was elected to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame, the last of the 'Red Rose Girls' to be inducted and the fifth women inducted since its founding in 1958.
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Violet Oakley was a member of The Plastic Club, a Philadelphia organization established to promote "Art for art's sake".
12.
On June 14,2014, Violet Oakley was featured in the first gay-themed tour of Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York City, where she is interred in the Violet Oakley family plot, Section 63, Lot 14788.
13.
Violet Oakley's life partner, Edith Emerson, was a painter and, at one time, a student of Oakley's.
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Violet Oakley painted a series of 43 murals in the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building in Harrisburg for the Governors Grand Reception Room, the Senate and the Supreme Court.
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Violet Oakley conducted extensive research on the subject, even traveling to England.
16.
When Edwin Austin Abbey died in 1911, Violet Oakley was offered the job of creating the murals for the Senate and Supreme Court Chambers, a 16-year project.