Isabelle Bowen Henderson

From 1919 to 1921, Henderson taught art at the Centennial School in Raleigh.^[1] She moved to Pennsylvania and taught at College Hill School in Easton from 1922 to 1924.^[1] She also taught art during the summer sessions at North Carolina State College and at Wake Forest College.^[3]

In 1936, Henderson opened an art studio in Raleigh and became known throughout Eastern North Carolina for her crayon portraits.^[1] In the 1940s, she continued painting in Raleigh and in Florida, where her husband was working as a professor. In addition to portrait commissions for wealthy North Carolinian families, Henderson was commissioned to paint oil portraits of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill president Frank Porter Graham, North Carolina State College president Wallace Carl Riddick, North Carolina Supreme Court justice I. Beverly Lake Sr., and the public official Charles Carroll of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.^[1][3]

She was a member of the North Carolina Art Society and assisted in establishing the North Carolina Museum of Art.^[3] Henderson was partially responsible for the museum acquiring a collection of Jugtown Pottery.^[1] Some of her work is kept in the collection of the museum.^[5]

Henderson's home in Raleigh became famous for her garden, which included a collection of iris and hemerocallis.^[1] Her hybridization of the two flowers led to her receiving the highest award of the National Society of State Garden Clubs in 1951 and recognition from the National Horticulture Society.^[1]

She was an active member of the Raleigh Garden Club and gave lectures to garden clubs throughout North Carolina.^[1]

She married Edgar H. Henderson in 1932 and moved to Williamstown, Massachusetts, where her husband served on the faculty at Williams College.^[3] She also spent time in Gainesville, Florida, where her husband served on the faculty at the University of Florida.^[1]

The Hendersons had one son, who died in infancy.^[4] Following their child's death, her husband suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized.^[4]

The couple returned to Raleigh in 1936.^[1] Her father purchased a Victorian home on a 1.2-acre lot in the Oberlin Village neighborhood for Henderson and her husband to help them get back on their feet.^[4][6] Shortly after moving into the house, they separated.^[4] Henderson added three outbuildings to her residence to create a quadrangle, including an herb house and a two-car garage.^[4]