Blanche Ames Biography
The
Blanche Ames Gallery is named for an
exceptional Unitarian Universalist who serves as an inspiration to us
today.
Blanche
Ames’ life and work bridged the 19th and 20th
centuries. Born in Lowell, MA
in 1878, her influence in the arts and sciences continued until her
death in
1969. The range of her art included oil
portraits of prominent people, minutely observed drawings and etchings
of
orchids, even witty political cartoons.
She illustrated her husband Oakes’ scholarly seven volume
treatise on
orchids, which is still used and is considered the best researched and
classified of all the large plant families.
Her etchings can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and
her oil
paintings at Harvard, Dartmouth, Columbia and Phillips Exeter
Academy
as well as the Mississippi State Hall of Governors.
Ames' endeavors extended beyond
art. She was a feminist, a leader in
civic and charitable affairs, an inventor, an engineer, and an author. For themselves, Blanche and Oakes designed
and built their home in North
Easton, MA. They named their beautiful stone mansion
and
its surrounding 1250 acres Borderland.
Here, they raised four children. Ames engineered
dams and
ponds throughout the estate. Her
patented inventions include a hexagonal lumber cutter, a method to
ensnare
enemy airplanes, and a water pollution device.
Ames
was
an active lobbyist for women’s rights to birth control and suffrage. As a member of the board of directors of
the
New England
Hospital for Women
and Children, she
raised sufficient funds to ensure an exclusively female staff and
administration for that institution.
Blanche
Ames survived her husband by 19 years, maintaining an active life. At age 80, she wrote a biography of her
father, entitled Adelbert Ames: Broken
Oaths and Reconstruction in Mississippi,
1853-1933. At age 90, she
received
the patent for her invention, “the antipollution toilet.”
Her daughter said of her mother’s many
accomplishments, “For her to have an idea was to act.”
In
1969, Ames
suffered a stroke and died in her Borderland home.
Memorial services were held at the Unitarian
Church of North Easton, MA, where her eulogy included appreciation for
her many
contributions to various causes, but especially her expression of
nature in her
art as a lasting gift to all. Today, her
beautiful estate and surrounding acreage are a Massachusetts State
Park
named Borderland.