Los Angeles County
Biographies
MRS.
LAURA MITCHELL TENNYSON
If
ever there was a gracious lady with poetry in her heart and beauty in her soul,
it is Laura Mitchell Tennyson. Blessed
with artistic ability which finds expression in two fields, writing poetry and
miniature painting, Mrs. Tennyson’s techniques have been developed and her
talents encouraged through professional training by the finest teachers. Her outstanding poetry has given pleasure,
strength and inspiration to many during the last few decades. Her poetry has appeared in magazines and
anthologies, and she had three books of verse published. The first one, “Silent Hours,” now out of
print, was published in 1927. The second
one, “Pilfered Moments: came out in 1952.
The last, and at this time of course her favorite little volume,
“Windows in the West” published in 1959 is an inspiring book of verse. Catherine Baker, her friend and teacher, says
in the foreword: “Many of her lines are
timely, many are timeless.”
In
line with her writing, Mrs. Laura Mitchell Tennyson has held offices in poets
and writers clubs. She is Past President
of the Aeolian Chapter of the California Federation of Chaparral Poets; past
President of Pasadena Writers Club; past Vice Chairman of the Writers Guild,
San Marino Women’s Club, and a member of Poets Haven.
Mrs.
Tennyson may be one of the few recognized poets in the San Gabriel Valley, but
she certainly is the only Miniature Painter in Alhambra. She paints Ivory Miniatures directly from
life, from photographs or from a combination of life and photograph. Her work has been noted for beauty of line
and color. Her “little portraits” are
art treasures. Mrs. Tennyson (as “L. M.
D. Mitchell”) is probably best known for her two (copyrighted) imaginative
paintings – “The Christ Child” and “The Light of Light.” Originally she had her studio at 307 South
Fourth Street, but she resides now at 1428 South Marengo Avenue in Alhambra.
Mrs.
Tennyson has received recognition in many ways.
She has been listed in Who’s Who in American Art every year since 1929,
and is now listed in “Who’s Who in American Women.” Among her many awards and prizes are the
following: At the Pan-California
Exposition in 1915 and the Pan-California International Exposition in 1916,
Laura M. D. Mitchell, as she was known then, won Gold Medals. In 1923 and 1929 she won prizes from the
California Society of Miniature Painters.
From the Pacific Southwest Exposition she received a Special Gold Medal
in 1928. Reproductions of her Miniatures
have been published in The Art News in New York, Revue du Vrai
et du Beau in Paris, the Art Digest and other
well-known publications. California
State Library and Los Angeles Public Library have reproductions of her
miniatures. She exhibited with the
American Society of Miniature Painters, New York City, the Pennsylvania Society
of Miniature Painters in Philadelphia, the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington,
D. C., the Painters and Sculptors of Southern California, Los Angeles Museum,
Pasadena Art Institute and many more, and the Royal Society of Miniature
Painters, London, England, by invitation.
Mrs.
Laura Mitchell Tennyson is Founder, Past President and Life Member of the
California Society of Miniature Painters, was vice president of Pasadena Society
of Women Painters and Sculptors and first vice president of West Coast Arts,
and past president of the Alhambra Community Sing.
Mrs.
Laura Mitchell Tennyson was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on January
12, 1883. Her father, Frederick Mitchell,
who died in 1888, was a banker; her mother, Margaret L. (Brecken)
Mitchell, a concert pianist, who for 14 years played at the Holy Trinity Church
in Alhambra, giving her service. She was
known under the name of Mrs. Sidney D. Fitz Gerald, her second married
name. Mrs. Tennyson’s family lines dates
back over 200 years. One of her
ancestors was the first Episcopal minister on Prince Edward Island, appointed
in 1774. Her mother’s grandfather was a
Commander in the Royal English Navy. His
uncle, Edward R. D. Mayne, ran the blockade between
the North and the South during the Civil War.
Mrs.
Tennyson went to high school on Prince Edward Island, went to Business College
and received private tutoring still in Canada.
She had private teachers and at the Art Students League in New York City
she studied under Lucia Fairchild Fuller, Alice Beckington,
Kenyon Cox and George Bridgman. At
Pasadena City College she attended writing classes.
In
1909 Mrs. Tennyson came to Alhambra, when it was a small town with less than
8,000 population.
She has lived in Alhambra ever since.
On
June 13, 1942 she married Arthur A. Tennyson, a building contractor, who had
lived in San Gabriel since 1907. He died
in 1950.
Mrs.
Laura Mitchell Tennyson’s two hobbies and loves are writing and sketching.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Historical Volume &
Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel &
Temple City, by Robert P. Studer, Pages 395-396,
Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California.
1962.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
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