Play it again, Harry!

While trying to come up with a blog post for today, I thought of a binder I glanced at when I first became Town Historian; a slim, 1 1/2" black thing entitled "Outstanding Women of Greenwich" compiled by longtime Gill Room volunteer, Jane Whitaker. In it are a number of articles from The Greenwich Journal & Salem Press about Grandma Moses.

1969 Grandma Moses stamp*

The one I found most interesting is from May 18, 1948, called "President Plays for Grandma At Her Request." Apparently Grandma Moses, who was receiving an award and having tea with Bess Truman, Eleanor Roosevelt (who was also receiving an award) and a number of other award winning women, asked President Truman to play the piano so she could go home and boast that she had heard him play. The president obliged! I wonder what he played?

Grandma Moses, 88, received an award for outstanding achievement in art for 1948. It was awarded by the Women's National Press Club. Eleanor Roosevelt was named Woman of the Year for her work with the United Nations in regards to human rights.

Other honorees were

• Dorothy McCullough Lee- Mayor of Portland, OR
• Madeline Carroll- actress
• Mary Jane Ward- author of The Snake Pit
• Marjorie Child Husted- home economist & businesswoman

According to Grandma Moses, she began painting in 1940 because "I had neuritis in my hands. I couldn't sew, and I had to do something."

Anna Mary Robertson Moses died in 1961 and is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in Hoosick Falls, NY.

The largest public collection of her painting is at the Bennington Museum in Bennington VT. http://www.benningtonmuseum.org/


*This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GrandmaMosesStamp1969.jpg