First in Series Will Focus on Anna de Naucaze and Ye Rose Tree Inn
The first of three presentations will offer historical information, images and text about Anna de Naucaze, Marie Von Veltheim, and Ye Rose Tree Inn, which the couple owned and operated at 252 Bridge Street, Northampton, from 1908 to 1923. de Naucaze defied gender norms - especially for the time period - by owning a business and publishing a magazine independently of men, as well as with her masculine style of dress and likely sexual relationships with women. Ye Rose Tree Inn was a popular tearoom for a primarily female clientele including Smith College students until de Naucaze was financially devastated in 1923. The Inn’s closing was due, in large part, to being removed from the college’s list of approved eating-places by then Smith College president William Allan Neilson.
