The Cone Sisters of Baltimore, with significant ties to Greensboro, have been in the news a great deal lately. Clarabel (1864-1929) and Etta (1870- 1949) amassed a highly-regarded collection of modern art in their lifetime. While they collected separately, together, they had over 500 works by Matisse and over 3,000 pieces in all. The Nasher Museum at Duke has an exhibit of their collection. Locally, the Weatherspoon currently has a room of their collection on exhibit and the Weatherspoon, located at the corner of Tate and Spring Garden Streets, is free. It is only on display at the Weatherspoon until February 17th, so, if you haven't seen it, call a friend and head over.
No, today's photo is not one of their paintings! It is a painting of the generations of Cones dating back to the parents of Clarabel and Etta. Herman Cone came from Bavaria Germany to the United States in 1845. In 1856, he married Helen Gugenheimer. Initially, they lived in Tennessee and then Maryland. Their eldest sons Moses and Ceasar relocated to Greensboro to establish a textile business. Herman and Helen are represented by the blue boxes in the middle of the above framed genealogy. Moses, Ceasar, Clarabel and Etta form part of the green oval surrounding their parents. Of those four children, only Ceasar had children. It is Ceasar's family who has this genealogy hanging at the Cemala Foundation in their office on Greene Street. The Cone Family has done so much for Greensboro, it is impossible to imagine our community without them.
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