Marian Hooper Adams

Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams was born on September 13, 1843, in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the youngest of three children born to Robert William Hooper (1810–1885) and Ellen H. Sturgis (1812–1848). The Hooper family was considered wealthy and prominent in Boston society. Her mother, a Transcendentalist poet, died when Clover was five years old, leading her to develop a close relationship with her father. Her siblings included Ellen Sturgis "Nella" Hooper (1838–1887), who married Ephraim Whitman Gurney, and Edward William "Ned" Hooper (1839–1901).

Clover Hooper Adams received her education at a girls' school in Cambridge operated by Elizabeth and Louis Agassiz. During the Civil War, she volunteered for the Sanitary Commission and notably observed the review of Union armies under William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant in 1865 despite societal expectations. In 1866, she traveled abroad and is reputed to have met Henry Adams, a fellow Bostonian, in London.

In 1870, she was living with her father at their residence in Beverly, Massachusetts. On June 27, 1872, Clover married Henry Adams in Boston. The couple honeymooned in Europe, and upon their return, Henry Adams taught at Harvard University. Their Boston residence at 91 Marlborough Street became a hub for prominent intellectuals. In 1877, they relocated to Washington, D.C., where they resided on Lafayette Square, opposite the White House.

Clover had three children with Henry Adams. She maintained a close relationship with her father, often writing him detailed letters. Her correspondence provides insights into the political and social climate of the era and reveals her sharp intellect and keen observations. Some scholars suggest she was the likely author of the 1880 novel "Democracy: An American Novel," though it was only credited to her husband decades later.

In 1883, Clover developed an interest in photography, becoming one of the earliest practitioners of portrait photography. She performed her own chemical developing and produced images of politicians, family members, pets, and various locales including Washington and Massachusetts. Her photographic work was highly regarded, but her husband discouraged her from pursuing professional publication.

Following her father's death on April 13, 1885, Clover experienced profound depression. While awaiting the completion of a new house designed by architect H. H. Richardson, she documented its construction with her camera. On December 6, 1885, she died by suicide in her room at her temporary residence on H Street, Washington, D.C., at age 42, by ingesting potassium cyanide. Her husband found her lying on the floor before the fire.

Henry Adams commissioned the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and architect Stanford White to create a memorial at her grave in Rock Creek Cemetery. The Adams Memorial, characterized by its enigmatic androgynous bronze sculpture, remains one of Saint-Gaudens' most renowned works.

Henry Adams expressed his grief in a letter dated December 5, 1886, to Clover's friend Anne Palmer Fell, acknowledging his emotional loss. Other contemporaries, including John Hay and Henry James, also remarked on her vivacious spirit and intellectual vigor.

The Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston houses Clover Adams' photographic collection and related materials. Her life and work have been documented in multiple biographies and collections of her letters, contributing to the historical understanding of her influence and the social milieu of her time.