Nellie Mae Rowe, African American, was born into a poor family. Very young, she worked in the fields to harvest cotton with her father. To escape this harsh life, she married at 16. Widowed twice and unwilling to accept being a housewife, she took advantage of her new freedom to embark on a life “in which she would not repeat the mistakes of the past.” Enjoying being carefree, free to create and improvise, she transformed her house into a joyful space decorated with suspensions, animals, dolls, sculptures that she made herself with fabrics, wire and even chewing gum and took up drawing which had been previously her favorite pastime.
ROWE nellie mae
