Evening star., 1955-11-11
Mrs. Adelaide Johnson,
Sculptor, Dies at 108

Mrs. Adelaide johnson. famed
sculptor and champion of wo-
mems rights, died yesterday in
District General Hospital at the
Iage Of l08.
1 Mrs. johnson had been hospi-
.ltalized since July, when she suf-
lfered a stroke during a prolonged
lhot spell. She rallied after the
iifirst two weeks and clung to life,
although visibly weakened by the
strain.
/ Until her illness, Mrs. john
Ison made her home with a friend
lat 1875 C street NE.
/ Services will be held at 3 pm.
Sunday at the S. H. Hines fu-
neral home, 1901 Fourteenth
/ street NV.
Members Of the Adelaide john
son Foundation will serve as
honorary pallbearers.
! Private burial services will be
held later at Congressional
Cemetery at 1901 E street Sc
/ The plot there was given in
thonor of Mrs. Johnson to the
Adelaide johnson Foundation by
the vestry of Christ tEpiscopaD
lChurch, Washington Parish, $40
lG street Sc. Members Of the
foundation had planned to buy
| the land there as a final resting
place for Mrs. johnson because
] they felt this cemetery. in which
many great Americans who were
J, alive during her lob years are
buried, was the "one she. be-
Ilonged in"
i A memorial service at the Ma
}tional City Christian Church Is
planned later.
/ It was not until she was ap-
Iiproaching 100 that Mrs. john
lson was willing to reveal her
Iage, She had kept 1t out OF
.l"Who's Who in America" and
IIhad refused to discuss it with in
Iterviewers, although she wanted
to tell them how she met Lincoln
lin Illinois during his first cam
Ipaign for the presidency in 1850
i She was q small woman. not
much more than 5 feet tall and
never weighed far above 100
pounds. But the strength Of her
personality which was radiant
Ieven in her latter days magnified
her.
1 On the eve of her centenary
IEtthat was In September, l947l,
she told a reporter, I'm be glad
ito 60. I've been around long
enough" She was still doing
morning setting up exercises at
1.-THE time. She continued in good
health almost all the way
through the succeeding decade
4 DtuiCulb 10 ncueVe
4 A reporter who interviewed
her shortly after her 105th
birthday wrote:
i 1T is difficult to believe she Is
il05. Her cheeks are firm and
unwrinkled. 1t is unnecessary To
raise ones voice. She hears as
well as anyone in the room. And
Ishe doesn't bother to wear
glasses"
Until the end her hair fell
in thick coils to her waist. She
was a vegetarian and ate five
light meals a day. She attributed
her longevity to the fact that she
was not contaminated by the
supposed poisons in meats and
that she never let anything
1 bother her. The last observation
probably puzzled the committees
of women who almost knocked
themselves out trying to save her
home and studio at $50 Mary
land avenue NE. which was sold
for taxes in 1899. For IA years
they managed to keep her
lsculptory from being eyicted and
probably felt they we're taking
10 years OF their own lives.
She had so long outlived the
early suffrage or equal rights
movement that few Of her latter
day acquaintances remembered
what it was all about.
Knew Champions
She was much younger than
the original champions OF wom-
ems rights whom she managed
TO immortaIize in marble in the
cellar OF the Capitol. Susan B.
Anthony was "a years her SEN
lior; Elizabeth cady Stanton. 80.
and Lucretia Mott was born in
1898. But she knew all three
OF them and had spoken from
the same platform as Miss An
Ithony several times. including
THE international Council of
Women in London near the close
lof the 18th century. She had
crossed the Atlantic 78 times.
| In the first decade of her
start on q second century there
were happenings that amazed
her and encouraged her in the
idea that she was not entirely
forgotten. She went to New York
lin 1948 at 101 to appear on I'VE
1.-THE People" !" a television show on
ia national network.
In 1861, she was invited to
come to New York and appear
.on a give-away program called
Strike 1t Rich" She was asked
who wrote the Battle Hymn of
the Republic. She promptly an
swered Julia Ward Howe" and
wasegiven q check for $500. The
STORY of her difficulties " s
idramatized in the show and she
was told that voluntary pledges
totaling more than $1,000 had
been made In telephone calls
from the listening public.
And in the following year she
went back to win $500 on an
lother TV show, THE Wheel of
Fortune"
But all this time, her chances
Iiof achieving her ambition of
saving her studio and presenting