Anna Coleman Ladd facts for kids
.jpg)
Anna Coleman Watts Ladd (born July 15, 1878 – died June 3, 1939) was an amazing American sculptor from Manchester, Massachusetts. During World War I, she used her artistic skills to help soldiers. She created special masks for soldiers whose faces were badly injured in the war. These masks helped them look more like themselves again.
Contents
Her Life and Work
Anna Coleman Watts was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She studied sculpture in Paris and Rome, in Europe. After marrying Dr. Maynard Ladd, she moved to Boston. There, she continued her art studies for three years.
Early Art and Writings
Her sculpture called Triton Babies was shown at a big event in 1915. This event was the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. Today, Triton Babies is a fountain sculpture in the Boston Public Garden.
Anna Ladd was also a founding member of the Guild of Boston Artists in 1914. She showed her art there and later had her own special exhibition. She created many other sculptures, often featuring characters from old myths. These artworks are still found and sold today.
Besides sculpting, Anna Ladd was also a writer. She wrote two books. One was called Hieronymus Rides, which was a medieval romance. The other, The Candid Adventurer, made fun of Boston society in 1913. She also wrote plays, including one about a female sculptor who goes to war.
Helping Soldiers in World War I
Anna Ladd was very good at creating portraits. She made a portrait of the famous actress Eleanora Duse. This was one of only three portraits the actress ever allowed.
In late 1917, Anna's husband, Dr. Maynard Ladd, went to France to help with the war effort. He directed the Children's Bureau for the American Red Cross. Anna wanted to help too. She learned about the work of Francis Derwent Wood in London. He was making lifelike masks for soldiers with facial injuries.
Anna contacted him and worked to improve these mask techniques. She got special permission to go to France. This was unusual because husbands and wives were not usually allowed to serve in war zones at the same time. She joined the American Red Cross in Paris.
Anna Ladd started the American Red Cross "Studio for Portrait-Masks." Here, she made custom masks for soldiers who had been badly disfigured in World War I. For her important work, she received two special awards: the French Légion d'Honneur Croix de Chevalier and the Serbian Order of Saint Sava.
After the War
After World War I, Anna Ladd created a sculpture for a war memorial. It was for the Manchester-by-the-Sea American Legion. In 1936, Anna and her husband moved to California. She passed away there in 1939.
Her sculpture Triton Babies is also featured on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. This trail celebrates important women from Boston.
Ladd's Prosthetic Work
Anna Ladd's studio was a place of hope for injured soldiers. Soldiers would visit her to have a special mold made of their face. Then, she would sculpt their missing features onto clay or plasticine.
How the Masks Were Made
This sculpted form was then used to create the prosthetic mask. The masks were made from very thin, strong copper. Anna would paint the metal with a special enamel to match the soldier's skin tone. She even used real hair to create eyelashes, eyebrows, and mustaches. The masks were attached to the face using strings or eyeglasses. This was similar to the prosthetics made in Francis Derwent Wood's "Tin Noses Shop."
In 1932, the French Government honored her again. They made her a Knight (Chevalier) of the Legion of Honour. This was to recognize her amazing work.
Modern Connections
Today, the type of work Anna Ladd did is called anaplastology. Anaplastology is the art and science of restoring missing or damaged body parts using artificial means. In a 2007 article in Smithsonian, an anaplastologist named Erin Donaldson talked about how facial prosthetics still help people today. This includes civilians and soldiers returning from wars like the Iraq War.
See also
In Spanish: Anna Coleman Ladd para niños
