It's late in the day of this December 4th but I can't let the day pass without noting that this is the birthday of artist Caroline Weldon. Caroline was born on this day in 1844 in Switzerland and emigrated to the United States in 1852 with her recently divorced mother. Her birth name was Susanna Karolina Faesch. She and her mother settled in Brooklyn, New York and in 1866 she married Dr. Bernard Schlatter. The marriage was not a happy one and generated no children. She left her husband and followed a married man, living with him briefly in Hoboken, New Jersey and giving birth to their son in 1876 or 1877. She was soon in the position of being a single mother when the married man returned to his wife. She had little choice but to return to Brooklyn to live with her mother and son. In 1883 she was officially divorced from Dr. Schlatter.
While raising her son she developed her skills as an artist and became politically active in defense of Native American people. She was distressed by the plight of the Sioux people who were being removed from their land in order to accommodate white settlers and the creation of the states of North and South Dakota. She was a member of the National Indian Defense Association at a time when very few few people had the courage to stand up for the rights of an entire people who were being driven from their homeland, moved to reservations, and having their culture and way of life destroyed.
Portrait of Sitting Bull by Caroline Weldon
oil on canvas
Upon her mother's death in 1887 she received an inheritance that allowed her to pursue her interests as an artist and as a political activist. She changed her name to Caroline Weldon. She had corresponded with Sitting Bull and she decided to fulfill a long held dream of living among the Sioux people by packing up and heading west, uninvited, with her young son. Caroline's arrival at the Standing Rock reservation in 1889 was problematic. From the moment of her arrival she was vilified and mocked by the U.S. Army and the white settlers who referred to her as a "white squaw." The Sioux people were wary of her and her self-appointment as Sitting Bull's representative and translator. However they came to respect her when they saw that she freely gave her money to procure food and provisions for their people and she was their staunch advocate. They gave her the name "Woman Walking Ahead." Caroline painted four portraits of Sitting Bull, though only two are known to have survived. She became estranged from Sitting Bull when she voiced her opposition to the Ghost Dance movement, telling him that she felt it would make him a target of further U.S. Army aggression. She left the reservation in November of 1890. She was traveling to Kansas City, Missouri to live with her nephew when her son died on the trip.
Caroline Weldon in 1915
Photo by Henry Sauerland
Caroline Weldon died in in Brooklyn, New York in 1921 and is buried in that borough's Greenwood Cemetery.
Grave of Caroline Weldon, Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
A 2017 movie, "Woman Walks Ahead," sparked my interest in Caroline Weldon's story. There are many discrepancies in the movie but it is a good introduction to her life and work. Actress Jessica Chastain gives a restrained yet passionate performance as Catherine/Caroline (one of the discrepancies!) Weldon.
While raising her son she developed her skills as an artist and became politically active in defense of Native American people. She was distressed by the plight of the Sioux people who were being removed from their land in order to accommodate white settlers and the creation of the states of North and South Dakota. She was a member of the National Indian Defense Association at a time when very few few people had the courage to stand up for the rights of an entire people who were being driven from their homeland, moved to reservations, and having their culture and way of life destroyed.
oil on canvas
Upon her mother's death in 1887 she received an inheritance that allowed her to pursue her interests as an artist and as a political activist. She changed her name to Caroline Weldon. She had corresponded with Sitting Bull and she decided to fulfill a long held dream of living among the Sioux people by packing up and heading west, uninvited, with her young son. Caroline's arrival at the Standing Rock reservation in 1889 was problematic. From the moment of her arrival she was vilified and mocked by the U.S. Army and the white settlers who referred to her as a "white squaw." The Sioux people were wary of her and her self-appointment as Sitting Bull's representative and translator. However they came to respect her when they saw that she freely gave her money to procure food and provisions for their people and she was their staunch advocate. They gave her the name "Woman Walking Ahead." Caroline painted four portraits of Sitting Bull, though only two are known to have survived. She became estranged from Sitting Bull when she voiced her opposition to the Ghost Dance movement, telling him that she felt it would make him a target of further U.S. Army aggression. She left the reservation in November of 1890. She was traveling to Kansas City, Missouri to live with her nephew when her son died on the trip.
Photo by Henry Sauerland
Caroline Weldon died in in Brooklyn, New York in 1921 and is buried in that borough's Greenwood Cemetery.
Grave of Caroline Weldon, Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
A 2017 movie, "Woman Walks Ahead," sparked my interest in Caroline Weldon's story. There are many discrepancies in the movie but it is a good introduction to her life and work. Actress Jessica Chastain gives a restrained yet passionate performance as Catherine/Caroline (one of the discrepancies!) Weldon.
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