Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
P. Dodd Ackerman married his first wife Margaret 1897. He listed May Ackerman as his second wife in 1918. Two years later, the wife that Ackerman listed for the 1920 census was Harriet Mary Smith (1890-1936). It is possible that Miss May Smith was Miss Harriet “Hattie” Mary Smith, but there is a discrepancy in age between the two. May Smith was a school mate of Ackerman’s daughter Emma. Emma was born in 1898. Miss Harriet Smith was born in1890; hardly the “child” that the newspapers during the 1916 scandal. In 1916, Harriet Smith would have been twenty-six years old. Interestingly, both Miss May Smith and Miss Harriet Smith worked as stenographers, but there was still the eight-year age gap between the two. In 1916, May Smith was either seventeen or eighteen years old, with P. Dodd Ackerman aged forty-one.
Harriet Mary Smith was one of two children born to Albion W. (1861-1924) and Anna M Smith (1861-1936). She went by “Hattie” most of her life. The 1910 census listed that the Smiths had been married for 23 years, and their two adult children still living at home. Hattie was 20 yrs. old and her brother Arthur H. was 21 yrs. old.
In 1915, at the age of 25, the New York State census listed Hattie’s occupation as a stenographer, still living with her parents. She was not going by any name other than Harriet or Hattie at the time.
By 1920, Harriet was listed in the US Federal census as 30 years old; Philip was 43. As many women at the time, she ceased working after getting married. Ackerman was the sole breadwinner with “stage designer” listed as his profession in the theatre industry.
They couple celebrated the birth of a son, Philip Dodd Ackerman, Jr. in October 23, 1921. Philip Jr. passed away only two years ago in 2018. The same year that he was born, the elder Ackerman contributed to an interesting exhibit hosted by the N.Y. Drama League. “Brooklyn Life” reported, “An interesting exhibit of stage scene models has been arranged by the New York Drama League to be held from Dec. 5th to December 10th at the League headquarters, 29 West 47th Street. Among the contributors are: Robert Edmond Jones, Norman Geddes, Boris Anisfeldt, Joseph A. Physioc, Sheldon K. Viele, Willy Pogany, Claude Bragdon, John Wenger, Dorothy McDonald, Warren Dahler, Carmine Vitolo, W. Herbert Adams, Lee Lash, P. Dodd Ackerman, Edward H. Ascherman, Novelty Scenic Studio, and others” ( 3 Dec 1921, page 16). By this time newspaper article identified Ackerman as the “famous scenic artist, “that famous master of scenic art,” “master scenic artist” and “scenic genius”. The “Standard Union” added, “The novel ideas as to the lighting, stage setting, etc., which are being used on the stage to-day calls out much originality and individual work and should make the collection by these well-known designers of marked interest” (4 Dec. 1921, page 35).
This was a turning point for Ackerman. In 1920 On Feb. 29, 1920, Ackerman announced, “Work of the Scenic Artist Has Advanced Materially” (New York Tribune, 29 Feb 1920, page 34). In an interview Ackerman was quoted, “Theatrical managers are now accepting designs from men who do not make the scenery…Ackerman does not believe in this and has come to be one of the pioneers in coming out against the practice. He believes that the man who is the artist, who is practical, who understands stagecraft and has education can do the type of work now required in the theater, although he has been a member of the old school of stage design.” The following year Ackerman was quoted as saying, “The day of the trick scenic investiture of plays is over. The futurist, the cubist and other reactionary painters of scenery have had their day, short-lived though it was, and are passing” (New York Tribune, 27 March 1921, page 48).
He was hanging with a new crowd; no longer part of the Thomas G. Moses and Lemuel L. Graham crowd. During the 1920s, the Ackermans were often in the company of stage stars and Senators. The attended many social gatherings, including the housewarming party for Mr. and Mrs. Alf T. Wilton, the well-known vaudeville representative (The Standard Union, 7 June 1925, page 7).
By 1923, Ackerman was also among an interesting group of studio owners who joined the Scenic Artist’s Union. On July 14, 1923, the “St. Louis Star and Times” reported, “Joseph Urban. Robert Law, P. Dodd Ackerman, Joseph Wickes, Joseph Physioc, Frank Gates, Walter Harvey, Evna Ackerman, Walter Street, William Castle and Edward Morange are among the scenic studio owners recently joining the Scenic Artists’ Union. Robert Edmund Jones, Lee Simonson, Livingston Platt, Norman Bell-Geddes, Cleo Throckmorton and Watson Barratt will join. The action follows the failure of the International Theatrical Association to back up studio owners” (page 4)
By the 1925 NY State Census, Harriet was now listed as “Mary” S. Ackerman, suggesting that Harriet also went by her middle name, with the “S” signifying her maiden name of Smith. Most often, however, Harriet went by “Mrs. P. Dodd Ackerman.”
The 1930 US Census listed the couple living at 20 Circle Drive in North Hempstead, New York, with Harriet’s mother, Anna Smith” and their nine-years-old son Philip Jr.
Harriet passed away on Aug. 1, 1935, at the age of 45. I have been unable to uncover any information about the cause or circumstances. What makes this confusing is that another Harriet Ackerman, born in 1893, who died in 1936 was buried on Nov. 13, 1936 in Green-Wood cemetery
To be continued…
