Hattie Hacker drawings and paintings, 1887-1889

Full finding aid (pdf)

Collection Scope and Content

The collection includes 13 oil paintings (1 on canvas, 10 on board, 2 on paper), as well as 35 charcoal drawings (16 drawings on mat board). The subjects of the pieces are mostly people, some of whom appear to be African-American. Many of the portraits are painted or drawn in profile. There are also a few landscapes and still-life drawings. Some pieces are signed, and a few are dated.

Biographical/Historical Note

Harriet “Hattie” Hamblen Moses Hacker Cobb was born in Westbrook, Maine in 1865. Hacker was a member of the first graduating class at Westbrook High School, attended Friends’ School in Providence, and also attended Emerson School of Expression in Boston (now Emerson College), where she studied painting and woodcarving. When she returned, Hacker taught grammar school and high school in Westbrook, Maine. She married Charles E. Cobb in 1892. Together, they founded Camp Wyonegonic in Bridgton in 1908, which subsequently moved to the shores of Moose Pond in Denmark. The Cobbs also ran the Denmark Inn, the Bridgton House, and a hotel on top of Pleasant Mountain. Hacker died in 1947, and is buried in the Forest Avenue Friends Church Cemetery in Portland, Maine.