Ina Cassidy (born Perlina Sizer; March 4, 1869 - September 9, 1965) was an American writer, sculptor, suffragist, teacher and lecturer.

Ina Cassidy
Born
Perlina Sizer

(1869-03-04)March 4, 1869
DiedSeptember 9, 1965(1965-09-09) (aged 96)
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Resting placeFairview Cemetery (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materColumbia University
Known forSculpture
SpouseGerald Cassidy

Biography

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Ina was born Perlina Sizer in 1869 on a cattle ranch[1] near present-day Las Animas, Colorado to Eber Rockwell Sizer and Mary (Savage) Sizer. Ina attended Columbia University, and became involved in the suffrage movement in New York. She met artist Gerald Cassidy in Denver, Colorado and the two wed in 1912.[citation needed]

The Cassidys moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico soon after marrying and became part of the burgeoning colony of artists and writers. From 1931 to 1960 Ina wrote a monthly column in New Mexico Magazine called "Art and Artists."[2] Ina exhibited her sculptures at the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe from 1928 to 1954, and in Albuquerque at the New Mexico State Fair from 1930 to 1953.[3] She served as the New Mexico Director of the Federal Writer's Project from 1935 to 1939,[4] a job she secured after John Collier recommended her appointment.[5] She was active in numerous civic and cultural organizations including the American Indian Defense Association,[6] New Mexico Association on Indian Affairs, the Spanish Colonial Arts Society, the Historical Society of New Mexico, National League of American Pen Women, the Daughters of the American Revolution and Mayflower Society, and was President of the New Mexico Folklore Society.[7] She became a charter member of the National League of Women Voters in New Mexico.[8]

Cassidy died in 1965, aged 96. She was cremated and her ashes are buried next to her late husband in Fairview Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "News Notes". Poetry. 43 (3): 175. 1933. JSTOR 20579277.
  2. ^ Benson, Nancy C. (1976). Women in New Mexico. Albuquerque, NM: Museum of Albuquerque. p. 5.
  3. ^ Falk, Peter (1999). Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975 : 400 Years of Artists in America. Madison, CT: Sound View Press. p. 592. ISBN 0932087558.
  4. ^ Cassidy, Ina Sizer (April 1955). "New Mexico Place Name Studies". Western Folklore. 14 (2): 121–123. doi:10.2307/1496996. JSTOR 1496996.
  5. ^ Cline, Lynn (2007). Literary Pilgrims. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780826338518.
  6. ^ Wenger, Tisa (November 2005). ""We Are Guaranteed Freedom": Pueblo Indians and the Category of Religion in the 1920s". History of Religions. 45 (2): 89–113. doi:10.1086/502696. JSTOR 10.1086/502696. S2CID 161559610.
  7. ^ Cassidy, Ina (1949). "Taos, New Mexico". Western Folklore. 8 (1): 60–62. doi:10.2307/1497161. JSTOR 1497161.
  8. ^ Lewandowski, Stacia (2011). Light, Landscape, and the Creative Quest : Early Artists of Santa Fe. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Salska Arts. p. 48. ISBN 9780615469171.
  9. ^ Melzer, Richard (2007). Buried Treasures : Famous and Unusual Gravesites in New Mexico History. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Sunstone Press. ISBN 9780865345317.