Commemorating NMWA Founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay

Online Exhibition

This online exhibition explores the life of NMWA-founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay (1922 to 2021).

Featured Image: Commemorating NMWA Founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay

Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, March 13, 2014; Photo by Astrid Riecken for the Washington Post via Getty Images

Overview

Wilhelmina Cole Holladay (1922 to 2021), founder of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, dedicated herself to addressing the underrepresentation of women artists in museums and galleries worldwide. Explore her life and legacy in this memorial exhibition.

Early Life

Childhood

Wilhelmina Cole was born on October 10, 1922, in Elmira, New York. She recalled being enchanted by artwork by women even as a child. In her oral history in the Archives of American Art, Holladay described a print of a Rosa Bonheur painting at her grandmother’s house and an Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun image that hung in her own bedroom, one of the artist’s self-portraits with her daughter Julie.

A sepia-toned photograph of a young light-skinned girl sitting outside in a chair, smiling and cradling a doll. She wears a light color dress with a large bow in her hair. Behind her is a lattice and flowering plants.
Wilhelmina Cole, age 5, ca. 1927; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

College Years

She attended Elmira College, not far from her childhood home. There, she was known as “Billie.” She was active in the school’s theater program, minoring in drama. She performed in The Women by Clare Boothe Luce (who, many years later, would give the museum its Frida Kahlo painting). She was on the yearbook staff and was recognized by peers for her “versatility in clothes, talents, and coiffures.”

Moving to DC

In 1946, Holladay moved to Washington, DC, where she worked for the Embassy of the Republic of China as social secretary to Soong Mei-ling, wife of Chiang Kai-shek. It was in DC that she met her future husband, Wallace Holladay. Wallace had studied architecture and was interested in art, a passion that they shared during their 65-year marriage. They were married at Saint Margaret’s Episcopal Church on September 27, 1946. After the birth of their first son, Holladay dedicated herself to volunteer projects. Her knowledge of art history grew when she was a docent at the National Gallery of Art, and she and her husband started to build an art collection.

A black-and-white wedding portrait features a light-skinned, slim couple standing in front of an ornate altar. The woman clasps her husband, clad in a suit, at the elbow and holds a bouquet. Neither smile.
Wallace and Wilhelmina Cole Holladay on their wedding day, September 27, 1946; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Travels

The Holladays loved to travel. On one of their early trips to Europe, they discovered and fell in love with the work of Clara Peeters. Upon returning home and finding no information on Peeters, or any other woman artist, in the entirety of H. W. Janson’s History of Art, the Holladays decided to focus their collection on great art by women. “If Peeters were sufficiently important to hang in two of the world’s great museums, how was it we did not know of her?” Holladay wrote in her memoir.

Building a Museum

NMWA’s Early Beginnings

In the early 1980s, the Holladays’ art collection was housed at their residence on R Street in Georgetown, where they hosted tours by appointment and occasional lectures. Temporary museum administration offices were located at 4849 Connecticut Avenue, NW and later 4590 MacArthur Boulevard, NW. NMWA Librarian Krystyna Wasserman (later curator of book arts) was one of the museum’s first hires. Scholarly work was a priority for Holladay.

A group of light-skinned women in an ornate residential living room. One woman holds up a large book of illustrated prints and talks to the group. The other women look on with expressions of happiness and intrigue.
Early Board members examine naturalist prints in the Holladay home, 1985; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Holladay’s dedication to creating NMWA was detailed in her daily planner. A typical week shows her visiting possible museum sites, seeking funding, moving in the museum-world circles of Washington, DC, and talking to artists. She continued this pace of meetings, phone calls, and travel for decades in service to her museum.

Two pages from a 1981 daily planner that include copious handwritten notes in black ink for the week of November 16 to 22. Occasional names are underlined in red ink.
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay’s daily planner, November 16–22, 1981; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

In 1983, the Holladays purchased the Masonic Temple at 13th Street and New York Avenue. Built by architect Waddy Wood in 1907, the grand building was in disrepair. Once the site was selected, it took more than a year to secure the approval of the Masonic board, pursue historic landmark status, and plan the labor required for the renovation.

At the head of a large board table, a light-skinned woman stands next to a light-skinned man, both wearing business attire. Four other men sit at the table looking at the man and woman. The woman leans down slightly, signing a document with her right hand.
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay signs deed for 1250 New York Avenue (standing beside Robert L. Morris, president of the DC Masonic Temple Association), November 1983; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Renovation

Mr. Holladay was an enthusiastic supporter of his wife’s efforts and, as co-founder, an equal partner in developing the museum’s collection as well as overseeing the major renovation of NMWA’s home at 1250 New York Avenue.

The museum’s first exhibition, American Women Artists, 1830–1930, was a survey curated by one of the country’s foremost feminist art historians, Dr. Eleanor Tufts. Here, Holladay is photographed in the galleries at the museum’s opening press conference.

In an art gallery featuring five large oil paintings on the walls, a male photographer takes a posed photograph of a light-skinned woman leaning against a podium in the center of the room. It holds a sculpture of a man on a horse. The woman smiles slightly under the photographer's large umbrella lights. She wears a blazer, long skirt and an elegant silk scarf tied around her neck.
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay photographed at NMWA opening press conference, April 2, 1987; Photo by Stephen Payne; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

The Grand Opening

The museum opened to the public on April 7, 1987, and Holladay addressed the crowd at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. NMWA Director Anne-Imelda M. Radice; wife of the Vice President Barbara Bush; Washington, DC, First Lady Effi Barry; and Frank Hodsoll, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, are pictured in attendance.

Holladay received significant criticism about her plans for NMWA, some believed the museum’s very existence politicized art. Others believed she was avoiding the political issues of feminism. She persisted with her mission, nonetheless. This June 1987 issue of the feminist magazine Women Artists News addressed the criticism. It was gifted to Holladay by founding editor Judy Seigel, who sent her best wishes. Holladay framed this cover and hung it in her office.

A magazine cover in black, white, green reads “Women Artists News” at the very top, below is a cartoon drawing of two girls on a green lawn in a confrontation. One girl yells at the other in a talk bubble that says: “THE WOMEN’S MUSEUM IS A WHITE GLOVE UN-FEMINIST STATUS QUO OPERATION BASED ON A CORPORATE IMAGE OF POWER AND SUCCESS.” The other girl responds “They’re going to show my painting next month.” A handwritten inscription is jotted in the right hand bottom corner.
Cover of Women Artists News, June 1987, with inscription by Judy Seigel; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Friendship with Judy Chicago

Perhaps an unlikely pair, Holladay and artist Judy Chicago long supported each other against the challenges of naysayers. Holladay rose to Chicago’s defense during an ugly period in which her artwork was decried as indecent on the floors of Congress. Chicago supported NMWA as a necessary and worthy cause in the face of challenges that it was not sufficiently feminist.

Two light-skinned women sit on a couch in a residence. The woman on the left wears a cardigan, blouse, and skirt and has chin-length straight brow hair. The woman on the right has curly shoulder-length hair, wears glasses, and a polka dotted top and black pants. They look at each other as they are in conversation. Four embroidered pillows sit on the couch behind and next to them.
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay with Judy Chicago in the Holladays’ Georgetown home, ca. 1988; Photo by Donald Woodman; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

A National Institution

In her efforts to establish the museum as a national institution, Holladay cultivated the formation of NMWA committees all over the globe. From Texas to New York, Canada to France, these NMWA-affiliated groups work on behalf of women artists in their home states and countries, extending the museum’s mission. “I can hardly overstate the importance of our state and foreign committees. Indeed, they may be one of NMWA’s most effective secret weapons and the reason we have grown as well as we have,” Holladay wrote in her memoir. Today, there are 25 active committees representing regions across the US from California to New York, three South American nations, and six European nations.

A black and white photograph of a room full of men and women seated at two long tables. In the front of the room a light-skinned woman with short brown hair stands at a podium addressing the group. The men are wearing suits and the women are wearing formal luncheon attire from the 1980s.
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay addresses attendees at the National Museum of Women in the Arts 1989 State Committee Conference at the US Capitol Ways & Means room, Washington, DC; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Key Moments in NMWA's History

Receiving the Legion of Honor

The Holladays took a special interest in women artists of 18th-century France, a period when the Enlightenment and revolution brought women artists into prominence, then swept them out again. They acquired works by Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Anne Vallayer-Coster, Marguerite Gérard, and others. These works, and the connections that Holladay built with artistic and political leaders in France, gave rise to major NMWA exhibitions and supported scholarly research on the artists. In 2006, Holladay was awarded the Legion of Honor for service to the arts of France.

In an ornate room featuring red and gold patterned wallpaper and curtains, a light-skinned man fastens a pin to the lapel of the jacket of a light-skinned older woman. An ornate mirror and candelabra sit above a fireplace to their right.
French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte awards the Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur distinction to Wilhelmina Cole Holladay at the French Ambassador’s Residence in Washington, DC, November 30, 2006; Photo by Russell Hirshon; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

In 2010, NMWA inaugurated the New York Avenue Sculpture Project, placing large, vibrant works by sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle on the median in front of the museum. Second Lady Jill Biden visited and toured the museum and library during the celebratory opening day.

In a large, light-filled gallery, two women look on at a wall sculpture that is made of black shredded tires. The woman on the left wears a turquoise blue skirt and jacket set with white open-toed heels. She smiles looking on at the artwork. The women on the right is older and dressed in black pants and a white and grey striped over coat. The appear mid-conversation.
Second Lady Jill Biden and Wilhelmina Cole Holladay examine Chakaia Booker’s Acid Rain (2001) in the NMWA galleries, April 28, 2010; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea

Long a dream for Holladay, the 2014 exhibition Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea brought together masterpieces of Western art from around the world to examine the image of Mary. Featuring works by Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Gentileschi, the show was a success for the museum and a personal delight for Holladay.

A group of light-skinned older people stand close in an art gallery listening as a Monsignor speaks to them. In the background is an artwork depicting Mary and Jesus; the wall next to it is painted teal.
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, and Monsignor Timothy Verdon at the Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea celebration dinner, December 3, 2014; Photo by Jack Hartzman Photography; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

A Lasting Legacy

Holladay celebrated the gift of a painting by Berthe Morisot from longtime museum supporters Joe and Teresa Lozano Long in April 2017.

In Memoriam

Creating the National Museum of Women in the Arts was a true shared passion for Wilhelmina and Wallace Holladay. Both had a lifelong love of art. Wallace led the rehabilitation of the Masonic Temple as a museum, and Wilhelmina found the supporters to make their dream a reality.

Learn more about Wilhelmina Cole Holladay.

A light-skinned elderly couple formally pose for a photograph in an ornate room. They wear formal evening attire and smile subtly. The woman places her hand against the man's lower chest.
Wilhelmina Cole and Wallace Holladay, 1997; Photo by Blackmore & Isacson; Courtesy of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Online Exhibitions Pagination