Portrait of Clarissa Hale Corey

Portrait of Clarissa Hale Corey
Charlotte Blakeney Ward (fl.1898–1939)
Pastel on paper, c. 1930
Gift of Arthur Corey
1987.095

Clarissa Hale (1883–1963) was the daughter of Mary Bassett and one of the founders of Hale Brothers & Company department store in San Jose, California, Oliver Ambrose Hale. She married Hugh Anketell Studdert-Kennedy (1877–1943), Anglican priest, foreign editor of the Christian Science Monitor, biographer of Mary Baker Eddy, and prolific author of books about Christian Science. Hugh’s realistic, yet sympathetic, portrayal of Mary Baker Eddy, Mrs. Eddy: Her Life, Her Work, and Her Place in History, met disapproval from church authorities and was held from publication. Hugh and Clarissa had formed the Farallon Press in order to publish Hugh’s earlier book, Christian Science and Organized Religion and sought to regain control of the biography. After Hugh’s death, Clarissa continued to pursue its publication. She married Arthur Corey in 1946, and the two operated Farallon in defiance of the Board of Directors of the church, successfully publishing Hugh’s biography of Mrs. Eddy in 1947.

Actor, author, dancer Arthur Corey (1900–1977) gave his collection of material related to Mary Baker Eddy and the practices of Christian Science, metaphysics, and stage magic to Bridwell Library in 1961. Corey’s book, Danse Macabre: The Life and Death of Andreas Pavley, a biography of the dancer, was published by Bridwell Library in limited edition in 1977.

Charlotte Blakeney Ward, born in Manchester, was a noted English portraitist. She served as President of the Society of Women Artists from 1923 to 1931.