Willoughby Ions (April 21, 1881 – February 5, 1977) was an American composer, artist, poet and
dramatist. She was an Art administrator for the Federal Art Project. Partner Adele Goodman Clark
Queer Places:
3614 Chamberlayne Ave, Richmond, VA 23227
111 E Franklin St, Richmond, VA 23219
Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery, 1214 Wilmer Ave, Richmond, VA 23227
Willoughby Ions (April 21, 1881 – February 5, 1977) was an American composer, artist, poet and
dramatist. She was an Art administrator for the Federal Art Project.
Born Estelle de Willoughby Ions in New Orleans. She wrote the play The Age of Innocents and the opera All in a Golden Springtime.. She was a member of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia.[1] She was a partner of Adele Goodman Clark.[2] Correspondence with Clark illuminates the relationship between women's personal and professional networks and their political activities. Ions' papers are held at the Virginia Historical Society.[3]
Hannah Fayle and Thomas Nevins of Waterford, Ireland had a daughter, Hannah Nevins (1821-1905), who emigrated to the United States in 1849. She married Robert Clarendon Jones (1803?-1893), a New Orleans native who eventually settled at "Hunters Hoe," Fairfax County, Va. Hannah Nevins took a different surname from her husband, "Ions," and this name was also used by the couple's three children, Penrose Nevins Ions (1852-1922), Robert Nevins Ions (1855-1949), and Lelia Nevins Ions (d. 1947). Robert Nevins Ions married his uncle's widow, Cecile Goodman (1840-1930) and had a daughter, Willoughby Ions (1881-1977), and a son, Robert Clarendon Ions (1882–1974). Cecile's brother was Edward Samuel Goodman (1851-1931).
Willoughby Ions was a noted composer, artist, poet and dramatist, but is probably most well-known as a designer of batik gowns. Born Estelle deWilloughby Ions in New Orleans, La., WI spent most of her adult life in New York City, Fairfax County, and Richmond, Va. As a young woman she was married briefly twice, but retained her maiden name.
She moved to Richmond in the early 1940's. She corresponded with Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s personal secretary, Louis McHenry Howe, James Thurber, and Richmond artist Nora Houston.
With the death of her father in 1949, Willoughby Ions inherited approximately thirty-four acres of land in Fairfax County between Fairfax Station and Clifton.
My published books:
