Emily Edwards
| Emily Edwards | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 7, 1888 San Antonio, Texas |
| Died | February 16, 1980 (aged 91) San Antonio, Texas |
| Resting place | San Jose Burial Park, San Antonio, Texas |
| Known for | Helped save the San Antonio River Walk |
| Spouse(s) | Librado de Cantabrana (div.) |
| Children | One child died in infancy |
Emily Edwards (October 7, 1888– February 16, 1980) was a co-founder and first president of the San Antonio Conservation Society. She was an artist, historian and teacher, and a lifelong friend of Diego Rivera. She is remembered as being a key figure in preventing the paving over of the part of the San Antonio River that is now known as the San Antonio River Walk.
On March 23, 1924, thirteen women gathered in San Antonio for the first meeting of the San Antonio Conservation Society (SACS). The two women who had organized SACS the day before were Rena Maverick Green and Edwards. They had met when Edwards had been renting a house from Rena's sister Lucy Madison Maverick. Green and Edwards assembled what they believed were a cross-section of San Antonio's population who were interested in protesting the razing of a house that lay in the path of a proposed San Antonio River bypass. Edwards was elected the organization's first president. Edwards used her artistic bent to put on a September puppet show for city commissioners aimed at preventing a section of the river (now known as the San Antonio River Walk) from being paved over. The title of the puppet show was "The Goose and the Golden Eggs". The Goose was representative of the river, and each egg representing an aspect of city culture that benefited from the river. Edwards served as the SACS president for two years, overseeing the organization's efforts to preserve the uniqueness of San Antonio.
She was born one of four daughters on October 7, 1888, to Frank Mudge Edwards and his wife Lillian Brockway Edwards of San Antonio. When she was seven years old, Emily's mother died, leaving her father to raise four daughters as a single father. At age ten, her father enrolled her at Ursuline Academy in San Antonio. After Ursuline, she continued her education at San Antonio Female Institute.
From early on, Edwards exhibited promise as an artist. She trained with known artists of her time. She took classes from Pompeo Coppini in Texas, and Diego Rivera in Mexico. She also trained with Harry Mills Walcott, John Vanderpoel, Ralph Clarkson and Enella Benedict. She enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago in 1905, and also became an employee of the institute. At Hull House, she taught art classes to young women, and also taught art classes at the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago until 1917. The next several years she taught at schools in San Antonio and in West Virginia. She expanded her creative skills by working as a stage designer in New York City, and performing as a puppeteer in Massachusetts. In the 1930s, she was Hull House's artistic director.
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