September 16, 2014
Pink Lady portrait to honor 1918 graduate
Bella Nelson Baldwin earned a bachelor's degree in home economics education from Kansas State University in 1918. Now, in the form of a portrait painted in 1922 by Viola Helen Anderson, she is returning.
The large portrait, "Pink Lady," was purchased with a gift from her son, John Baldwin. It will be hung in Justin Hall in ceremonies at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The public is invited.
The late Mrs. Baldwin, who also had a master's degree in education from K-State, taught home economics and mathematics in Kansas, was a university professor of home economics at the University of Utah and later was an American Red Cross executive in New York. Her family established the Bella Baldwin Scholarship in 1983.
The artist was head of the Washburn University art department from 1921 to 1929. "Pink Lady" hung in the Topeka Woman's Club parlor for more than 80 years.