Creative Women of Fishers Hill

Three women who achieved national prominence for their creative endeavors, but were later largely forgotten, lived near Fishers Hill during the 1880s. Landscape painter Bertha Von Hillern (ca. 1857-1939), once renowned as a competitive endurance walker, shared a studio 1.5 miles northwest of here with painter Maria J. C. a' Becket (1839-1904). The women, influenced by the French Barbizon Movement, drew inspiration from the rugged forests of this area, exhibited their works at elite galleries and World’s Fairs, and mentored one another. Emma Howard Wight (ca. 1863-1935) arrived here late in the 1880s and became a prolific author of novels, short stories, plays, radio dramas, and photoplays.