Ami Mali Hicks
Ami Mali Hicks | |
---|---|
![]() Ami Mali Hicks, 1930 | |
Born | 1867 Brooklyn, New York |
Died | 1954 (aged 86–87) |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Artist, Educator, Suffragist |
Ami Mali Hicks (1867–1954) was an American feminist, writer, and organizer. She wrote books on art instruction and criticism. Hicks was a longtime administrator for Free Acres, an independent, collectivized community in New Jersey. She worked with the Women’s Political Union and was a member of Heterodoxy, two radical organizations that challenged some of the more placid activism of women’s movements and suffragists.
Early life
Ami Mali Hicks was born in 1867 in Brooklyn, New York to Josephine (née Mali) and George C. Hicks.[1][2][3] Her maternal grandfather Hypolite Mali, was the Belgian consul to New York from 1840 until his death in 1883.[4][5] She attended Miss Whitcomb's School[6] and took art classes, studying with William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri.[3] She studied portraiture in Paris under the artist Charles Chaplin.[7]
Career
Around 1889, Hicks returned to New York City and began working at the Baynes Mosaic-Tracery Company making designs for metalwork. Simultaneously she continued her studies at the School of Artist Artisans on West Twenty-third Street to learn wallpaper design and book-cover designing, also teaching metalwork at the school. In 1892, one of her stencil designs was chosen to adorn the frieze of the assembly room for the Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition the following year.[7] She sold wall paper designs and made metal tracery patterns for Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, but found she was unable to financially support herself without taking on additional work as a director of art works at the Lotus Press and several other printing houses. She supervised the printing of menus, programs, cards and bookplates, as well as creating the designs to be printed.[8] By 1903, she had expanded her classes and was teaching design at the Guild of Arts and Crafts for which she served as financial secretary.[9] In 1906, Hicks and other artisans formed the National Society of Craftsmen and she was elected to serve a three-year term as a director on the board.[10]
Hicks began to focus on batik and exhibited pieces at the Second Annual Exhibition of the National Arts Club in 1908, where her wall hanging was praised for her use of color.[11] She began experimenting with dyes, often creating her own combinations to match decorations for home decor.[12] In 1909,[13] she joined with Bolton Hall, an ardent member of the Henry George Movement, to establish a single tax colony on a piece of farmland he owned. Hall converted the hen house to a dwelling for his private use and Hicks and Ella Murray made use of the dilapidated farm house. The goal of the colony was to establish a community for those who could not afford a summer home to share the property and work together for improvements. The group sent out invitations to other Georgists[14] and by 1910, the three were joined by Grace Isabell Colburn, Otto G. Fischer and his wife, and Walter Hampton, who incorporated the property as Free Acres. Meeting in Hicks' studio, the group of seven drafted the incorporation papers,[15] where members were allowed to build in the community but forbidden to buy or sell the land. Land rents were annually collected and the corporation paid the various taxes due.[16] She was elected as one of the first trustees[14] and continued to serve in that capacity throughout the 1930s,[17] as well as participating in events of the Henry George School.[18]
Though Hicks continued to produce batiks, she also made woven works, draperies, and produced watercolors influenced by Japanese styles.[19] She began to publish books and articles on arts and crafts, including such works as "Batik, Its Making and Its Use" (House & Garden (November 1913),[20] The Craft of Handmade Rugs (1914), Everyday Art (1925),[3][21] and Color in Action (1937).[22] In 1919, she joined the faculty of a theatrical school run by Yvette Guilbert and was responsible for teaching costume and scenery design.[23] She became active in the women's suffrage movement, joining the militant Women's Political Union led by Harriet Stanton Blatch.[24] Hicks was among the women who demanded that President Woodrow Wilson stop imprisoning suffragettes[25] and was a member of the radical feminist group, the Heterodoxy Club.[26] She spoke on single tax issues at feminist rallies, for groups like the Equal Franchise League and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.[27][28] In the 1940s, she retired to her property near "Free Acres" and in 1950, was one of only two of the original members still living.[29]
Death and legacy
Hicks died in 1954.[30] Free Acres, which she helped found, is still a thriving community.[31]
References
Citations
- ^ New York State Census 1865, p. 3.
- ^ New York Passenger Lists 1934, p. 653.
- ^ a b c Fowler 2017, p. 38.
- ^ Royal Belgian Bulletin 1840, p. 443.
- ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1883, p. 7.
- ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1892, p. 14.
- ^ a b The New York World 1893, p. 8.
- ^ The Courier-News 1895, p. 6.
- ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1903, p. 5.
- ^ The New York Tribune 1906, p. 6.
- ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1908, p. 10.
- ^ The Buffalo Commercial 1912, p. 7.
- ^ Huntington 1922, p. 117.
- ^ a b The Courier-News 1935, p. 9.
- ^ The Courier-News 1960, p. 19.
- ^ Huntington 1922, pp. 118–119.
- ^ Land and Freedom 1932, p. 25.
- ^ Land and Freedom 1935, p. 55.
- ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1915, p. 20.
- ^ Ayres 2002, p. 241.
- ^ Hicks 1925.
- ^ Morton 1955, p. 195.
- ^ Marshall 1919, p. 141.
- ^ Glisson 2006, p. 266.
- ^ The New York Times 1917, p. 13.
- ^ Flynn 1973, p. 280.
- ^ The Courier-News 1916, p. 16.
- ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1918, p. 19.
- ^ The Courier-News 1950, p. 11.
- ^ askART 2000.
- ^ Romano 1991.
Bibliography
- Ayres, Dianne (2002). American Arts and Crafts Textiles. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-0434-7.
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(help) - Flynn, Elizabeth Gurley (1973). The Rebel Girl: an autobiography, my first life (1906-1926). New York, New York: International Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7178-0367-5.
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(help) - Fowler, Cynthia (2017). Hooked Rugs: "Encounters in American Modern Art, Craft and Design". Abingdon-on-Thames, England: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-351-56353-6.
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(help) - Glisson, Susan M. (2006). The Human Tradition in the Civil Rights Movement. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-4409-3.
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(help) - Hicks, Ami Mali (1925). Everyday Art. New York, New York: E.P. Dutton & Company. OCLC 780071913.
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(help) - Huntington, Charles White (1922). "Free Acres". Enclaves of Single Tax or Economic Rent. 2. Harvard, Massachusetts: Fiske Warren: 117–136. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
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(help) - Marshall, James Collier, ed. (December 1919). "New Schools and New Ideas". Arts & Decoration. XII (11). New York, New York: Joseph A. Judd Publishing Company, Inc. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
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(help) - Morton, Grace Margaret (1955). The Arts of Costume and Personal Appearance. New York, New York: Wiley.
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(help) - Romano, Jay (February 10, 1991). "Free Acres Journal; A Haven Where Residents Own the Houses but Not the Land". The New York Times. New York City, New York. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
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(help) - "1865 New York State Census: Brooklyn, 3rd Ward, Kings County, New York". FamilySearch. New York: Utica and East Hampton Public Libraries. June 1865. p. 3. FHL microfilm #1930202. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
- "Ami Hicks (1876–1954)". askART. California. 2000. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
- "Anniversary of Free Acres to be Celebrated". Somerville, Bridgewater Township, New Jersey: The Courier-News. July 29, 1935. p. 9. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Art Notes". Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 8, 1903. p. 5. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Art Workers Organize". New York, New York: The New York Tribune. April 28, 1906. p. 6. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Arts and Crafts Exhibit". Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 4, 1908. p. 10. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- Bulletin Officiel des Lois et Arrêtés Royaux de la Belgique: Livre 21 (in French). Vol. XLVII. Brussels, Belgium: Imprimerie de Weissenbruch Pere, Imprimeur du Roi. 1840.
- "Citizenship Is Discussed". Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 11, 1918. p. 19. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Demand Release of Pickets". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 9, 1917. p. 13. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
- ""Free Acres" 26 Miles from New York City" (PDF). Land and Freedom. 39 (460–461). Ottawa, Canada: Land and Freedom Journal of the Henry George Movement: 141. September–October 1932. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
- "Free Acres Association Born at Meeting of Seven Persons". Somerville, Bridgewater Township, New Jersey: The Courier-News. February 26, 1960. p. 19. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "The Henry George School of Social Science". Land and Freedom. XXXV (1). New York City, New York: Land and Freedom Journal of the Henry George Movement: 55–56. January–February 1935. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
- "Mali". Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 11, 1883. p. 7. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Miss Amy Hicks Will Speak". Somerville, Bridgewater Township, New Jersey: The Courier-News. February 18, 1916. p. 16. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Miss Amy Hicks's Design". The New York World. New York, New York. April 8, 1893. p. 8. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Miss Hicks Display of Hand-Dyed Fabrics". Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 8, 1915. p. 20. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at New York: SS Queen of Bermuda". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. March 24, 1934. NARA microfilm series T715, Film 5465. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
- "Property for Free Acres Donated by Its Founder". Somerville, Bridgewater Township, New Jersey: The Courier-News. August 18, 1950. p. 11. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Reproduces Old Colors, New York Woman Makes Good Use of Cheap Fabrics". Buffalo, New York: The Buffalo Commercial. February 15, 1912. p. 7. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Young Women and Art". Somerville, Bridgewater Township, New Jersey: The Courier-News. September 26, 1895. p. 6. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Young Women at Tea". Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 28, 1892. p. 14. Retrieved 19 August 2017 – via Newspapers.com.