Photographer: This portrait may have been taken by Petaluma photographer, Harry Fowler Roberts. Its rough stucco backdrop can be seen in several of Robert’s portraits dating approximately from the same time.
THE SITTER:
Name: Anna Medora Morrison Reed
Description: There are numerous portraits of Anna Medora Morrison Reed, but this example is particularly interesting due to her attire. Anna wears a late-nineteenth-century, homemade interpretation of an ancient Roman matron’s stola. The result is a curious combination of Victorian and Classical elements. The free-flowing dress is gathered at the waist by what appears to be a Victorian drapery cord with large elaborate tassels. Under the stola, Anna wears a waist-cinching corset, a form-shaping undergarment considered de rigueur for nineteenth-century women. This combination of Roman stola and Victorian corset is curiously incongruous. It abides by the corset standard but ventures out to embrace the simplicity and free-flowing qualities of Classical dress. It anticipates the style of San Francisco-born dancer and choreographer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), who, championing female liberation, rejected the restraints of the corset and embraced the freedom of Classical dress.
At its time, this dress would not have been acceptable in many social circumstances. The full exposure of her arms, which are adorned with cuff bracelets, would have been considered improper. In context, however, her attire may have been socially acceptable: her Roman stola may have been the costume she wore at the 1893 California State Agricultural Fair held in Sacramento, where she delivered its annual oration the evening of the Fair’s classically themed Circus Maximus entertainment event. Anna does appear a bit apprehensive. She has placed her left hand over her breast in a gesture of solemnity and modesty, and at her throat is an imposing Christian cross. An additional Victorian attempt at modesty is Anna’s chemisette which covered her flesh exposed between the stola’s low neckline and her choker. The chemisette is difficult to see, but its closure strip can be faintly discerned resting on Anna’s chest between the end of her cross and the stola’s neckline.
Biographical Note: Anna Medora Morrison Reed was born in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1849. At age five, she traveled with her mother, Mary Elmira Preston Morrison (1827-1881), to join her father, Guy Bryan Morrison (1814-1910), in Oregon City, an early California mining camp. As a young woman, she worked as a teacher and journalist and lectured throughout Northern California, espousing temperance and traditional roles for women. In 1871 she married John Smith Reed (1829-1900), and they settled in Ukiah, where they raised five children.
As a married woman, Anna continued her work as a journalist and wrote three books of poetry. As a widow, she established herself as a magazine and newspaper editor. Over time, she reversed several of the views she held as a young woman, becoming a champion of women’s suffrage and an advocate for the California wine industry. In 1890, she served as a charter member of the Pacific Coast Women’s Press Association and, in April 1904, edited the first edition of her magazine, The Northern Crown, which reported on Northern California political and cultural issues. Edward A. Keller (1880-1947), who was married to Anna’s daughter, Susan Mary Reed Keller (1873-1938), published early editions of Anna’s magazine in Ukiah at his Excelsior Press. Edward and Susan later moved to Petaluma, and in 1908, Anna and her youngest son, John Smith Reed Jr. (1881-1928) joined them. In 1909, Edward and John established the Keller and Reed Company, where they continued publishing The Northern Crown. In June 1909, Anna edited and the Keller and Reed Company published the first edition of The Sonoma County Independent, a daily newspaper that ran until 1912. Anna returned to Ukiah in 1916, where she worked as the editor of the Ukiah Times Journal, ran as a candidate for the California State Assembly in 1918, and continued publishing The Northern Crown until its final edition in July/August 1920, the year before her death.
In 1978, John E. Keller, Anna’s grandson, edited and published a compilation of her writings entitled Anna Morrison Reed, 1849-1921.
Family Affiliation: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28779462/anna-medora-reed
Bibliography: John E. Keller (editor), Anna Morrison Reed, 1849-1921, published by the editor, Lafayette, California, 1978. https://buttecountyhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/YHHS-Morrison-ANNA-2017-complete.pdf; https://petalumahistorian.com/petalumas-california-girl/. The Pacific Bee (Sacramento), August 11, 1893, p.4. Sacramento Bee, August 3, 1893, p.2; September 15, 1893, p.4. Harlan Osborne, “Keller’s Family Printed its Name on Petaluma,” Petaluma Argus-Courier, August 11, 2023, section C.
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: This portrait’s format, size, and proportions are anomalous. It is approximately 6” X 2”.
Medium: undetermined
Description, front: Anna’s classical Roman attire and the anomalous properties of this portrait’s format, size, and proportions suggest the portrait may have been created to promote the 1893 California State Agricultural Fair in Sacramento, where Anna delivered the annual oration the evening of the Fair’s classically themed Circus Maximus entertainment event.
Description, back: The back is either blank or contains only an accession number.
Date: possibly summer 1893
Condition: There is slight foxing throughout the portrait.
Owner: Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 1996-80-05
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