A carte-de-visite photograph of Frances ("Fanny") Ann Thruston Ballard (1826-1896), wife of Andrew Ballard and mother of Rogers Clark Ballard Thruston.
Patty Thum was known for her paintings of flowers, especially roses but she was also a talented landscape and portrait artist. She is one of the city’s earliest professional woman artists. She also was an author, inventor and a major advocate for the arts in the City of Louisville. Thum dedicated her life to art starting at the age of 16, when she left home and traveled north to study art at Vassar College. Established in 1861, Vassar College set out to “accomplish for young women what our colleges are accomplishing for young men”.
Carte-de-visite of Viola A. Stow (1841-1912). This image appears to have been taken before Viola's marriage to Frank Dufour in October, 1862. Note that an identical table serves as a prop in the studio photographs of her brother Baron [018PC4.04-.05]
Viola Stow was born in 1841 near East Enterprise, Switzerland County, Indiana, a rural farming community near the Ohio River. She was the third of four children and only daughter of Uzziel and Catharine Stow. Stow’s parents valued education, and as a young girl she studied at the community school in Stowtown. The school was maintained by local residents, but the community often had difficulty retaining teachers. This led to sporadic instruction during Stow’s youth.
