Born in Vance, Alabama, Carrie Lillian Hill was the oldest daughter and the second of five children. Her father, John La Fayette Hill, was a clerk with the Vance Mining and Supply Company. Her mother, Nancy Rebecca Vance Hill, was from the family for whom the coal-mining town was named. The couple’s first child was Robert Ernest Hill, born in 1872. After Carrie’s birth in 1875, John and Nancy had three more children: Phillip Edwin Hill, born in 1877; Sammye Katharine Hill, born in 1880; and John Scott Hill, born 10 years after Carrie. According to the family Bible, Carrie’s given name was Caroline Lillian Hill, but she never liked the name Caroline and always went by Carrie.

In 1891, when Carrie was 16, the family moved to Birmingham. Here she found a network of artists who would nurture her talent and support her efforts to become a professional painter.

Timeline of Significant Events in Carrie Hill's Life

Membership in Organizations

Birmingham Art Club
Alabama Art League
Mississippi Art Association
Southern States Art League
National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors
Provincetown Art Association
Alabama Art Commission

Archival Resources: Biography: Birmingham Library Archives

Emond, Burgin, And Hill Families
Papers, 1843-1957

Source: http://www.bplonline.org/Archives/collections/families/emondburginandhillfamilies.asp

"Robert T. Emond, progenitor of the family in Elyton, Alabama, was a native of South Carolina who moved to Jones Valley in the early 1840s. In November 1843 he married Minerva Camp and settled in Elyton. While Minerva remained at home with the couple's seven children, Robert traveled through Central Alabama and Mississippi working as a home contractor. One of the Emond daughters, Jane, married James L. Burgin of Compton, Jefferson County. Their daughter Natalie (Neat) Burgin married Robert Ernest Hill of Birmingham in 1901. Robert Hill's sister Carrie Hill was a prominent Alabama artist in the early to mid 20th century. Born in Bibb County, Carrie Hill moved to Jefferson County with her family in the 1880s. Upon completing her education, she spent the 1920s traveling through Europe painting. Returning to this country, Carrie Hill established a studio in the Five Points South section of Birmingham. She divided her time between painting and teaching until her death in 1957."

Scope and Content:

"This collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, legal and financial records, and family memorabilia. The letters were written between the early 1840s and the mid 1920s and discuss personal matters and current events. Some letters touch on events during the Civil War. There are several letters from Edwin Hill while he was stationed in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Neat Burgin wrote home about her experiences while visiting Chicago in 1899 and 1900. Also included are courtship letters from Lee Merrill of Chicago to Dolly Burgin of Birmingham dated 1896, courtship letters between Ernest Hill and Neat Burgin dated 1899 to 1900, a 1923 diary written by Janie Hill while a student at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and a sketch book and European trip diary belonging to Carrie Hill. The subject files on Carrie Hill contain biographical information, a diary, a scrapbook, correspondence, exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, a paint box, and other items."

Guide to Collection:

File level guide available in the Archives Department.

Subject Areas:

Artists -- Alabama -- Birmingham.
Burgin Family.
Burgin, James L. Courtship.
Dating (Social customs).
Diaries. Elyton (Ala.) -- History.
Emond Family.
Emond, Robert T.
Hill, Carrie L.
Hill Family.
Hill, Robert E.
Spanish-American War, 1898.
Women -- Alabama -- Birmingham.

Collection Number: 112

Size: 5 linear feet (5 boxes)

Restrictions: Standard preservation and copyright restrictions.

Art of the New South

Source: Birmingham Historical Society

"You can curl up and read Art of the New South: Women Artists of Birmingham, 1890-1950 (paper $29.95, cloth $39.95) like a good novel. The 204-page telling of the stories behind eight memorable artists details not only the cultural scene emerging with the founding of Birmingham, but also depicts each woman's personal expression and journey to her art.
The book, produced by the Birmingham Historical Society, starts with the story of Caroline Lovell, a bright, innovative pioneer, known for staging tableaux vivant (paintings come to life by players in costume). Having studied in New York, she returned to the newly formed Birmingham to paint watercolors and miniatures, and to lead the young city's social scene.

You also read about the adventurous Lucille Douglass. "She must've been an extraordinary extrovert," says Marjorie White, Birmingham Historical Society Director. "She traveled to Europe, became an etcher, went on an international lecture circuit, and left her legacy, a collection of her finest art, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art." The worlds, told by writer Vickie Ingham, go on to cover accounts of Lucille's journeys to China and Cambodia, where she illustrated travel books and depicted ancient ruins.

Each woman emerges a personality--and a shaper of the growing Birmingham and its arts identity. As members of the Birmingham Art Club (established in 1907 by Della Dryer and others), the painters deftly rendered their works, traveled widely to study at noted academies, shared their learnings back home, and generally instilled in locals (and beyond) a dignity of art as a calling for female achievers. "Born in the years following the Civil War--when women were expected to follow traditional paths--these were professional artists," says White. "They were not dilettantes--most did not marry and spent a lifetime as successful artists."

In all, Art of the New South tells of Birmingham's Carrie Hill, Lucille Douglass, Alice Rumph, Della Dryer, Hannah Elliott, Caroline Lovell, Carrie Montgomery, and Willie McLaughlin. "Except for archival records and family collections, little is known of these women today," continues White. "We pieced together their lives from the available material and watched as a portrait of early Birmingham and eight incredible women took shape."

Copyright 2004 Birmingham Historical Society

ISBN: 0-943994-29-2 (hardcover)

ISBN: 0-943994-30-6 (softcover)

See period articles about Carrie's artist friends, John MacKenzie and Lucille Douglass. See also an article about Vicki Ingham's book, The Birmingham Museum of Art: A Civilizing Spirit.

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© Artist Carrie Hill. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED