Partner Edith Lake Wilkinson

Queer Places:
Summerville Cemetery Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia

Fannie Moore Wilkinson (1855 – May 31, 1931) was the lifelong companion of Edith Lake Wilkinson, from beginning of 1900s to 1925, when Edith was hospitalized in an asylum by her tutor who wanted to drain her savings.

Edith Lake Wilkinson (1868-1957) was an artist who lived and painted in Provincetown, MA, and New York during the early decades of the XX century until she was committed to an asylum for the mentally ill in 1924. Wilkinson's life and work is highlighted in the film Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson. Beginning of the 1900s Wilkinson started living with Fannie Wilkinson (no relation to Edith). Fannie was born in Augusta, GA, and her family moved to Brooklyn after the Civil War. Little is known about their relationship but we can assume that it was probably romantic. A series of drawings of a woman in sketch books from 1923 shows a woman relaxing in what’s clearly a domestic setting. In 1924 Wilkinson is hospitalized in an asylum for seven months for paranoid state. She is again hospitalized in 1925 for 10 years. Fannie remained in their New York City apartment and died in 1931 at 76 after returning to Augusta. In 1935 Edith is transferred to another asylum and died in 1957 at 89 years old.

Fannie moved back to her hometown Augusta in 1931, shortly before dying. She is buried at Summerville Cemetery (Augusta, GA 30904).


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https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/arts/design/an-artist-on-the-margins-is-rescued-from-obscurity.html