Unknown artist, Beulah Brewster, age 24, 1896. Pastel on canvas. 100 x 57 cm. GC059 American drawings and paintings.
This is a portrait of the young woman who would become Mrs. Beulah Rollins, wife of Philip Ashton Rollins (1869-1950), the founder of the Friends of the Princeton University Library and of the Western Americana collections. Here’s a biographical note from our finding aid to the Rollins collection: “Rollins was born in Somersworth, New Hampshire and spent a good deal of time during his youth out West, where he developed a fascination with a culture and lifestyle that would last his entire life. He attended Princeton University and graduated in 1889. He and his wife, Beulah “Pack” Rollins, settled in New York City, where he practiced law. Despite their East Coast home, Mr. and Mrs. Rollins spent much of their time traveling through the western United States.”
