Spear, Clara Whitney (1873-1954) (3 of 4)
/Portrait Photograph of
Ida Kleinhaus, Lucia Kleinhaus, Clara Whitney & Frances Raylis
THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
Photographer: unidentified
Photographic Studio: unidentified
THE SITTERS:
Names: Ida Kleinhaus, Lucia Kleinhaus, Clara Whitney Spear, and Frances Raylis. When this portrait was taken, Clara Whitney Spears would have been known by her maiden name, Clara Whitney.
Description: Clara Whitney appears in this group portrait in the lower center. She looks off to her right with a smile on her face. She was 17 when this portrait was taken. Like the other young women in the portrait, she wears her hair pulled to the back of her head with tight, short curls adorning her forehead. This may be a group portrait of Mills College students.
Biographical Note: Clara Whitney was raised in Petaluma. She attended Mills College in Oakland, California and was married in 1893 at the age of 20 to Lewis Eugene Spear. Clara died at the age of 81 in Santa Barbara, California but was buried in Petaluma’s Cypress Lawn Memorial Park.
Family Affiliation: Clara Whitney Spear was the seventh and last child of the prominent Petaluma pioneers Albion Paris Whitney (1825-1884) and Susan Durgin Eastman Whitney (1832-1917). Her father was a California State Senator and wealthy businessman. Her mother managed the family business after his death and was an active participant in the women’s suffrage movement. Her paternal grandmother was Olive Parlin Whitney, and her siblings were Cleora Melissa Whitney Hewlett, Nancy Jane “Jenny” Whitney Morrow, Arthur Leslie Whitney, Leona Merrill Whitney, Marcella “Ella” Whitney Wheaton, and Albion Harvey Whitney. Clara’s husband was Lewis Eugene Spear (1867-1953). He was a California business man who organized the Pacific Steel and Wire Company in San Francisco and later established the Pacific Wire Rope Company in Los Angeles.
Bibliography:
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: This square format is often referred to as a Carré; it is approximately 10.5 x 10.5 cm
Medium: albumen photographic print mounted on cardstock
Description, front: This group portrait of four young women appears in a circular window within a square format. The photographic paper was then mounted onto a square card.
Description, back: Handwritten in cursive in black ink is, “Petaluma Sept. 1890.”. Handwritten in cursive in pencil is: “Ida Kleinhaus, Lucia Kleinhaus, Clara Whitney, Frances Raylis”.
Date: September 1890
Condition: Both sides of this card are soiled and stained.
Owner: Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 1981-835-28
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