Nancy Douglas Bowditch

Nancy Douglas Bowditch (July 4, 1890 – May 1, 1979) was an American artist, author, costumer and set designer. The daughter of painter George de Forest Brush, she produced a biography of him in 1970, and her own memoirs published posthumously. She was married firstly to the artist William Robert Pearmain, and later to Dr. Harold Bowditch. She became involved in costume work for plays but sought spiritual concerns and found the Baháʼí Faith in 1926, going on Baháʼí pilgrimage and serving in the arts inside and outside the religion's community She was active in the Baháʼí Faith community of Greater Boston, elected as Chair of the Boston Spiritual Assembly and later to the first local assembly of Peterborough, New Hampshire. Early years Nancy Douglas Bowditch, was born Nancy Brush in Paris on July 4, 1890, daughter of painter George de Forest Brush, and Mary "Mittie" Taylor (Whelpley) Brush, a sculptor and inventor. In Dublin the family were neighbors and close friends with Samuel Clemens and his daughter Jean Clemens, who died about 1909, and then the Clemens moved away. Nancy met William Robert Pearmain in America in 1906 and he followed her in 1907 to Europe. They married in 1909, she betrothed as "Nancy Douglas", and he a student of her father's. They had a daughter born May 1911. The Brush family interacted with ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and the Baháʼís in the area in July and August 1912, especially during an annual out-of-doors play as well he visited their farm. Pearmain died unexpectedly in September. Nancy moved from place to place until she married Harvard graduate Dr. Harold Bowditch in October 1916.