In 1911, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Our beloved David Strong fell dead on the Street February 5th. He was a grand old man – past 80 years. He was employed and was at work in Fords Theatre in Washington on the night that Lincoln was assassinated. The Doctor who attended Lincoln was a personal friend of Strong’s, and as the Doctor was cutting Lincoln’s hair to get at the wound, he put hair in his coat pocket instead of throwing it on the floor. He forgot until sometime next day. He gave Strong a bit of it, which he kept to his dying day. Strong was the “daddy” of all Masonic designs and he was a 32nd Degree man. His color was deep and rich and his drawings very correct.”
I have explored Strong’s contribution to theatre history repeatedly over the past three years, but here is a recap. Strong was a designer, scenic artist and stage mechanic.
David Austin Strong was born on January 20, 1830 in East Windsor, a town in Hartford County, Connecticut. He was the youngest of ten children born to Erastus Strong and Lucy Wolcott Drake. As a young man, Strong moved to New Haven and primarily worked as a decorative and sign painter. It was not until the age of twenty-one that Strong entered the theatre profession, working as both a stage manager and scenic artist for Homan’s Theatre in New Haven. It was his early experience at Homan’s that greatly shaped both his personal and professional life. Strong married the star actress of the Homan’s Theatre Company, Esther Hosmer. However, his artistic life was shaped by friend and fellow artist Thaddeus Frisbie.
Strong and Frisbie formed a decorative painting company in New Haven, Connecticut during the 1850s. The partnership ended when Frisbie passed away in 1859. At the time, Frisbie was only 34 years old and it still remains unclear the exact nature of their relationship. In the end, both artists shared the same gravesite with their respective wives and children. Frisbie, his wife and children are all interred in the Strong family plot at Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven.
Shortly after Frisbie’s death Strong left the area. Throughout the 1860s, Strong primarily worked in Eastern theaters, specializing in visual spectacles. His first nationally significant work appears in Washington D.C. during 1863. “Strong’s Washington and the War” opened on May 18, 1863. On May 22, the National Republican of Washington, D.C., advertised the panoramic exhibition Strong’s Washington and the War, as “designed and executed by the celebrated artist Mr. David A. Strong,” heralding Strong as a genius. The exhibition included a series of representations of the City of Washington, with its street, houses, public buildings, fortifications, promenades, public levees, hospitals, stores, and
During March of 1864, Strong created the scenery for the “Grand Fairy Spectacle of the Seven Sisters and the Birth of Cupid in the Bower of Ferns.” This production played at Ford’s Theatre during November 1864. Strong was listed as living in Washington, D.C. during 1864, at 334 E Street N. In Washington, D.C., he worked at a variety of performance venues, including Williard’s Hall and Grover’s Theatre, as well as Ford’s Theatre. His work at Ford’s during this time gives credence to his story about being at the theatre the night President Lincoln was assassinated.
Throughout 1865, Strong lived and worked in the District of Columbia. By December of that year, Strong was credited as producing as elaborate spectacle for the production of “L’Africaine.” A December 29, 1865, article in “The National Republican”commented that the settings were “greatly superior to the one given in London, and in every respect equal to the famous New York Scene.”
It was Strong’s grasp of staged spectacle that would greatly affect his involvement with grand burlesque spectacles of this same era, such as the premiere of The Black Crook at Niblo’s Garden Theatre in 1866. Strong was part of the technical crew that created the original scenery for the production of “The Black Crook” in 1866 at Niblo’s Garden Theatre. His fellow scenic artists included, Richard Marston, Robert Smith, Lafayette W. Seavey, and William Wallack. That same year, he also painted “Rip Van Winkle” with E. Hayes. By 1868, he painted scenery for an act for “The White Fawn” at Niblo’s. During the 1860s, Strong began working in Chicago too.
In 1874, Strong permanently relocated to Chicago, establishing his new home in this bustling city that continued to rebuild and expand after the Great Fire of 1871. He worked as the scenic artist for a variety of theaters, including the Adelphi Theatre, Haverly’s Theatre and McVicker’s Theatre. In Chicago, Strong joined the Oriental Consistory of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. From 1878 to 1885, he primarily worked in Chicago at Haverly’s Theatre, receiving accolades for new scenery that accompanied new productions, such as Dion Boucicault’s “The Shaughraun.”
In Chicago that Strong joined the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Raised in Hiram Lodge No. 1 during 1852, he entered the Oriental Consistory during 1876 and was instrumental in the development of Masonic degree productions in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. He received the Honorary 33rd degree for his continued contribution to the theatrical settings for degree work. When Moses credited Strong as being “the Daddy of Masonic Design,” it was likely for more than simply his scenic art. Strong’s knowledge of stage machinery and spectacle would have been instrumental in transforming Scottish Rite ritual into degree productions.
In the larger context of American theatre history, Strong was one of the last scenic artists noted as a member of the Dusseldorf school. In the 1892 article, “Paint Mimic Scenes, Men Who Have Found Fame in the Wing and Drop Curtains,” Strong was noted as one of the premiere scenic artists working in the United States at the time (Chicago Tribune, Dec, 18, 1892, page 41). The article reported, “David Strong, ‘Old Trusty,’ still at work in this city, is the only survivor of the good old Dusseldorf school. Everything that comes from his facile brush – and he could walk over miles of canvas of his own painting – has the quality of opaqueness peculiar to his school and seldom found nowadays.” It was this “quality of opaqueness” that was in direct contrast to the English practice of glazing, a tradition that dominated much scenic art along the Eastern Seaboard. The opaque application of solid color also meant that a subject could be worked up from dark to light. The use of glazes typically meant that the composition was worked up from light to dark. Each was successful, yet supported differing approaches when mixing paint and applying color to the composition. For example, the scenic art of Russell Smith (1812-1896) is characteristic of the English practice of glazing, whereas the scenic art of David A. Strong is characteristic of the “slap dash” tradition.
The significance of Strong’s passing in 1911 is more than the passing of an individual artist, it signified the passing of a generation. His influence in the production of scenery for Scottish Rite collections and commercial scenery delivered by Sosman & Landis vanishes at this point. Strong’s work represented an older generation of scenic artists, one that is still preserved in Scottish Rite theaters across the country. Although his painting for commercial theater primarily disappeared over a century ago, his work still lives on in Masonic degree productions.
To be continued…
