Collections record Beta

Collection Record Detail

Object Name

Drawing - Sarah Pierce's School House

Object Number

1975-100-75

Description

Framed pen and ink drawing of the Litchfield Female Academy building. View shows northeast corner of building. Federal style building with columns on front. Shutters closed on all but four windows. Fence in front with a few trees. Behind Academy building is a smaller outbuilding. Cupola on top of building, hip style roof. Signed in lower left corner "Z.S.W./1838 & 1898. Litchfield, Conn./Miss Pierces School House" in ink.

Provenance

The LHS archival collection contains a letter written by Z.S. Webb to Emily Noyes Vanderpoel in 1898. In the letter, Webb writes that he is sending an ink sketch of the "Seminary" to her, a replica of a sketch he completed in 1837 or 1838. Webb noted both of these dates at the left of the drawing, underneath his name. Webb must have been living in Litchfield at the time, as he writes that he attended the school in 1837-1838 under a Miss Finch, who succeeded Miss Pierce.

Comment

Z. S. Webb is known to have completed two versions of this drawing. The first, believed to be the original 1838 sketch, is in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society. This later version was sent by Webb to Emily Noyes Vanderpoel in 1898 and is illustrated in Vanderpoel's Chronicles of a Pioneer School, opposite page 268. Emily Noyes Vanderpoel likely completed a copy of this drawing in the style of Webb (1993-05-1) sometime afterwards, although there is a slight possibility that the third version was also completed by Webb himself.