(1857-1926)

Ellen Gertrude Emmet Rand (American, 1875-1941)

Loan Courtesy of the Western Reserve Historical Society

Jeptha Homer Wade II (Homer) was the grandson of financier and telegraph pioneer Jeptha Homer Wade (1811-1890) who was instrumental in the creation of the Western Union Telegraph Company (portrait in Reading Room). Homer’s father, Randall P. Wade, died when Homer was a young man and Homer worked closely with his grandfather for the remainder of his grandfather’s life, both in his considerable business and philanthropic interests. Jeptha Homer Wade was involved in a great number of Cleveland area businesses, in addition to the Western Union. He served as an executive in forty-five companies including railways, mining companies, manufacturing companies and banking institutions.

Homer also left a profound mark on Cleveland through philanthropy that was no less distinguished than his grandfather. He was one of the founders of the Cleveland Museum of art in 1913, served as its vice president and also its president in 1920. His many contributions to the museum included a collection of rare lace, textiles, jewels, enamels and a number of paintings. Most important of all was his gift of an art purchasing fund to allow acquisitions of the highest caliber among American museums nationwide. He also supported many other charities and institutions including the Cleveland School of Art, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Western Reserve Historical Society where his papers reside. He also funded the magnificent Wade Memorial Chapel in Cleveland’s Lakeview Cemetery in honor of his grandfather, who was the cemetery’s first president. It is one of the few interiors left in the world which was completely designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his studios.

Homer was a supporter of the Cleveland Art School, the Protestant Orphan Asylum, Western Reserve Historical Society and Western Reserve University. He also contributed to the Children’s Fresh Air Camp, Lakeside Hospital, and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Ellen Gertrude Emmet Rand (American, 1875-1941)

Ellen Rand was well known. She painted three portraits of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the 1930’s, one of which became the official White House portrait. She is best known for portraits of important politicians, artists, writers and socialites. She was a student of William Merritt Chase, Kenyon Cox and Robert Reid. From 1893 to 1894 began producing drawings for Harper’s Weekly and Harper’s Bazaar. Mrs. Rand was also the painter for the Union Club portrait of John Milton Hay which hangs in the Main Floor Lobby.