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Title
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Johnson, Adelaide (1859-1955)
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Johnson, Sarah Adelaide (1859-1955)
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birthday
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1859-09-26
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Birthplace
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Plymouth, IL
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Death Date
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1955-11-10
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Occupation
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Sculptor
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Biographical Text
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Adelaide Johnson was a feminist sculptor who's work is featured in the U.S. Capitol. She studied at the St. Louis School of Design, later traveling to Dresden and Rome to study with Giulio Monteverde using money awarded from an 1882 lawsuit related to an injury caused by a faulty elevator. Johnson lived and worked in Chicago, where she would create her most notable work, "Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony," in 1921, which would go on to be permanantly featured in the U.S. Capitol rotunda in 1997. She began to face financial hardship in the 1930s, ultimately destroying much of her work in protest of their failure to fetch a satisfactory price, as well as her failure to open a studio museum. When her financial circumstances did not improve, she appeared on several television quiz show programs in an attempt to win money.
Johnson was married to businessman Frederick Jenkins from 1896 until their separation in 1908. She passed away at age 96 and was buried at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C.
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Contributor
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Raisch, Elly
