Hadley Richardson

As a teenager Hadley became painfully shy and reclusive. She attended Mary Institute in St. Louis and then attended college at Bryn Mawr. However, when her mother decided Hadley was "too delicate, both physically and emotionally," she left college. The death of her sister Dorothea (who sustained burns from a house fire) earlier that year may have also contributed to Hadley's decision to leave college. Hemingway scholar Jamie Barlowe believes Hadley represented a "True Woman" as opposed to a "New Woman" of the early 20th century. The "True Woman" was "emotional, dependent, gentle—a true follower."

After her return from college, Hadley lived a restricted life—her sister and her mother continued to worry about her health—with little opportunity for physical activity or much of a social life. Her mother did allow Hadley to visit her former Bryn Mawr roommate Katy Smith in Vermont one summer. While visiting her friend, she enjoyed playing tennis and she met Maxfield Parrish but when her mother became worried over her well-being, she was forced to return home. While her mother became reclusive and immersed herself in spiritualism, Hadley spent some years attempting to attain a career as a pianist until she abandoned music, believing she lacked talent. When her mother developed Bright's Disease, Hadley nursed her until her death. Read Less