Sarah W. Whitman

Sarah de St. Prix Wyman Whitman (1842–1904) was an American stained glass artist, painter, and book cover designer. Successful at a time when few women had professional art careers, she founded her own firm, Lily Glass Works. Her stained glass windows are found in churches and colleges throughout the northeastern United States. As a member of the board of the Harvard University "Annex," she helped to found Radcliffe College. She had one brother, Charles (1845-1911), who suffered from mental illness and was institutionalized in about 1882. By her third birthday, in the aftermath of her father's involvement in a bank scandal, the family had moved her to Baltimore, Maryland, where she spent most of her childhood with her wealthy Wyman relatives. When she turned 11, in 1853, she moved back to Lowell, where she was educated by tutors. Despite the fact that she never completed the French course of training, within a decade she had established herself as a successful stained glass window designer, painter, and book cover designer.

Stained glass work In the early 1880s, Whitman apprenticed herself to the noted stained glass artist John La Farge, and her later independent work shows his influence. The cover for which she is best known showed ornamental poppies, and was designed for a book for a friend, Celia Thaxter's An Island Garden.

Public service Whitman was very active in arts organizations. She inaugurated the Boston Water Color Club for women in response to the fact that the Boston Society of Water Color Artists admitted only men. She organized the annual fancy-dress ball for the city's Arts Festival.