Ina Cassidy Explained

Ina Cassidy
Birth Name:Perlina Sizer
Birth Date:4 March 1869
Birth Place:Bent County, Colorado
Death Place:Santa Fe, New Mexico
Resting Place:Fairview Cemetery (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Columbia University
Known For:Sculpture
Spouse:Gerald Cassidy

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

Biography

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.

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]

Notes and References

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