Lucy Virginia Smith French

  • Title: Lucy Virginia Smith French
  • Date: ca. 1850
  • Description: This oval miniature painting, in color depicts a young woman with brown hair pulled back to the nape of her neck, wearing a windowpane checked white and blue dress with a circular neckline and a simple gold necklace.
  • Historical Note: Lucy Virginia Smith French (1825-1881) lived in McMinnville and Beersheba Springs, Tennessee, during the Civil War. She was a published writer by the 1850s, and the journals she kept indicate not only a love for home and garden but also an abhorrence of war. A quilt she embroidered for her McMinnville residence, Forest Home, won awards in 1859.
  • Contributing Institution: Private Collection, photograph by David Andrews
  • Digital Publisher: Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
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