Boundless K-12 Curriculum: CONTINUANCE

Hepsibeth Bowman/Crosman Hemenway

Unidentified artist
Hepsibeth Bowman/Crosman Hemenway, ca. 1840s
Oil on canvas 
Courtesy of the Collection of Worcester Historical Museum, Gift of Frederick F. Hopkins

ABOUT THE MAKER

It is not yet known who painted this portrait of Hespibeth Hemenway, a Nipmuc woman, in the 1840s. It is one of few portraits of a Native American person taken from real life during that era. Such portraits were typically commissioned by wealthy white people, usually men. In this case, it is believed that the artist may have been visiting the area to work on other paintings and personally chose to paint Hemenway, or she possibly asked him to paint her portrait.

“One of my favorite stories of Hepsibeth is how on the first Independence Day she roasted a pig on the common and fed the people of Worcester. She was also well known for her wedding cakes.” 

—Richard Spotted Rabbit Massey (1934-2012),
former Nipmuc Tribal Council Member and fourth great-grandson of Hepsibeth Hemenway

Additional Resources

read article:
Hepsibeth Heminway’s Portrait by Holly V. Izard

Learn about other objects in CONTINUANCE:

An oil painting of an older woman with dark hair wearing a white bonnet and dark dress.

How can portraits help us understand the past?

Quillwork on a birch bark book cover.

Why does continuing the use of traditional knowledge matter?

A basket with a photo of a woman selling baskets on the inside of it.

What can we learn by keeping traditional practices alive?

Two wooden carved canoe paddles hanging on a wall.

How can art tell the story of resilience and survival?

overlapping concentric circles made by ripples in water.

Boundless K-12 Curriculum

* YouTube links to audiovisual materials shared by other creators are included in the curriculum. For more information, including for captioning and transcripts of the suggested audiovisual materials, please contact the audio/video content creators.