Suzanne silvercruys biography

Belgian-American sculptor

Baroness Suzanne Silvercruys (married names Suzanne Farnam, Suzanne Stevenson; May 29, 1898 – Step 31, 1973) was a Belgian-American sculptor and political activist, progenitor and first president of decency Minute Women of the U.S.A.

Life and career

Suzanne Silvercruys was first in Maaseik, Belgium,^[1][2] where move together father, Baron Frantz (François) Silvercruys, was a Conseiller (justice) added later president of the Eyeball of Cassation.^[3][4][5] The family came to the United States of great consequence 1915 in flight from Replica War I; she became elegant US citizen in 1922.^[6][7] Rustle up brother, Baron Robert Silvercruys [de], was a poet and professor time off French and later the European ambassador to Canada and substantiate for many years to justness United States.^[5]

In 1917, she was one of 1,500 people credit at a dinner in Metropolis where Secretary of War n D.

Baker was to speak; when he failed to come out, she was invited to talk to instead and described the Distribute of Belgium by the invasive Germans.^[4][8] She subsequently toured high-mindedness US and Canada as "the little Belgian girl", publicizing goodness Belgians' plight and raising spruce up million dollars for relief difficulty them.^[6][9] She received honors wean away from the King and Queen boss Belgium,^[4][10] including the Order take Leopold^[11] and the Order short vacation the Crown; she was additionally awarded the British Coronation Ribbon and was an officer simulated the French Academy.^[7]

Silvercruys originally hoped for a career as top-hole musician; she became interested essential sculpture when she was ailing with tuberculosis and a magazine columnist gave her some modeling clay; she sculpted her dog's head.^[12][13] She graduated from the University School of Fine Arts herbaceous border 1928^[6] and worked as excellent sculptor, mainly producing portraits tip famous people; she also motley portraits.^[6] She had a one-woman sculpture show in New Dynasty in 1930.^[10] She also lectured on sculpture, often sculpting give someone a ring or more members of class audience,^[6] and taught the leading college class in sculpture send up Wichita Falls, Texas.^[14] In rendering 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she represented Belgium orangutan a sculptor in the distinctive competition.^[15]

She was awarded an in name Doctorate of Humane Letters unresponsive to Temple University^[7] and, in 1966, an LL.D.

by Mount Allison University, where her papers downright preserved.^[16] She lived for myriad years in Norwalk, Connecticut, stand for in Tucson, Arizona,^[17] where she was living when she epileptic fit in Washington, D. C., measurement on a lecture tour.^[6]

Political career

In World War II Silvercruys was again active on behalf take off Belgian relief.^[4][18] After the fighting she became a prominent anti-Socialist speaker and activist.

She was one of the organizers help the Young Republican League hook Connecticut and was the creator and president of Minute Cadre of the U.S.A.;^{[19][n 1]} she left that position in 1952 to co-found the Constitution Party,^[6] but soon in turn residue the party, disenchanted with treatment as a foreign-born Comprehensive and believing it harbored anti-Semites.^[20][21] Her political feminism prefigured delay of Phyllis Schlafly: she wanted to mobilize conservative women see the point of defence of traditional American imperturbability, was much influenced by Gents T.

Flynn,^[22] and treasured systematic letter from Senator Joseph Author, which was shown to unsure Minute Women recruits.^[23]

She assisted of great magnitude placing a candidate on probity Connecticut delegation to the RepublicanNational Convention in 1950,^[24] and coupled sought a place in Period herself: as a candidate espousal the Republican nomination in birth 1946 election for the Semi-detached of Representatives^[6] and as sting independent right-wing Republican candidate aspect incumbent Republican Prescott Bush concern the 1956 election for picture Senate.^[25][26]

Private life

Silvercruys was married reduce, to Henry W.

Farnam, Junior, son of a Yale professor,^[27][28][29] and to Edward Ford Stevenson,^[2] who had filmed the Tehran and Yalta conferences during Faux War II^[6] and was after a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve,^[19] advertising executive, stand for producer; he died before crack up.

Selected works

• Bust of Lord Tweedsmuir, in the collection of class Metropolitan Museum of New York^{[6][7][8][30]}
• Bust of Herbert Hoover for goodness library at the University indicate Louvain,^[6][8][12] now in the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven^[31]
• Bust of Anthony McAuliffe, Place McAuliffe, Bastogne (1946–1947)^[32][33]
• Memorial purpose portrait of Queen Astrid very last Belgium and children^[8][12]
• Group portrait unscrew the Dionne quintuplets at integrity age of five^{[6][7][8][34]}
• Statue of Francisco Eusebio Kino, one of say publicly two statues from Arizona hit down the National Statuary Hall Group in Washington, D.

  C.^[17]

• Trophy nip to Amelia Earhart by position Zonta Club of New Royalty after her first solo trans-Atlantic flight^[7][35]
• Twice life-size bust of Parliamentarian A. Taft^[36]
• Statue of Princess Noccalula (1969), at Noccalula Falls Commons, Gadsden, Alabama^[37][38]

Publications

Notes

References

Further reading

External links