Rebecca Cromwell Rouse Painting

Rebecca Cromwell Rouse Painting

Ohio Women; Arts and Entertainment; Religion in Ohio; Temperance; Military Ohio; Portraits; Charitable organizations; Community service

This 37.5" x 28.5" (95.25 x 72.39 cm) portrait depicts Rebecca Cromwell Rouse (1799-1887), a Cleveland woman notable for her tireless advancement of the work of Christian benevolent organizations in the 19th century. Her most enduring legacy was the formation of the Protestant Orphan Asylum, known today as Beech Brook, Inc., but her most famous accomplishment was the establishment of the Ladies' Aid Society during the Civil War. A branch of the U.S. Sanitary Commission and a forerunner of the American Red Cross, the society aided soldiers and their families in a number of ways, from nursing the sick and wounded to supplying food and clothing to the widows and orphans of soldiers. Fundraising was done primarily through soliciting monetary donations and direct donations of food and materials for distribution to their constituency. In 1864, Rouse and the society organized a very successful Sanitary Fair, which operated much like today's craft fairs or expositions, and raised more than $100, 000. The society continued its services to Civil War veterans for a few years and disbanded in 1868. Rebecca Cromwell Rouse was born in Salem, Massachusetts and married Benjamin Franklin Rouse in 1821. They moved in 1830 to Cleveland, where they worked to establish the First Baptist Church. She involved in several benevolent societies, including the Martha Washington and Dorcas Society, which she founded in 1842 to provide relief for the city's poor. Although the Martha Washington and Dorcas Society did not focus specifically on temperance like the eastern Martha Washington societies tended to, Rouse was involved in the founding of the Cleveland Ladies Temperance Union in 1850. Joseph Gregory, a Cleveland area artist who worked from about 1845 to 1885, painted this portrait. Born in England around 1820, Gregory lived in Cleveland until his death in 1895. He was also an artists' model for Archibald Willard's Art Club, which met to discuss art and sketch from live models.

Gregory, Joseph

Audiovisual material; Museum # 1206

1846

Nick Kelly

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Cleveland (Ohio)

No

95.25 x 72.39 cm