Susan Higginson Bowditch Long: 1857-1935

An unknown child-most likely related to the Long family, squirms in her rocking chair while trying to maintain her composure while being photographed. Seated, and amused at right holding his cigar is Harry Vinton Long, the spouse of the photographer. The location is believed to be the residence of the Longs, in Beverly, MA.

From a series of candid photographs believed to have been taken by the artist compiled in a late 19th Century album bearing the armorial bookplate of her spouse Harry Vinton Long, 1857-1949. Long attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1876-77 and she later worked closely in 1909 with the Olmstead Brothers- successors to famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead Sr.- in designing the extensive gardens for her family’s summer estate on Little White Head Island at Cohasset, MA.

Note: In 1903, the artist became a member of the Massachusetts Society of Colonial Dames of America, seventh in descent from Rev. Francis Higginson. Her husband Harry Long was a Mayflower descendent, Boston stockbroker and Director of Museums for the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. (now Historic New England)