Memorial to Marian "Clover" Adams at Rock Creek Cemetery

Photograph by T. Renwand

My nephew recently took these photographs of the monument honoring the memory of Marian “Clover” Adams, the wife of historian Henry Adams.  Marian Adams was the daughter of Robert W. Hooper and his wife, the former Ellen Sturgis. Marian Hooper married Henry Adams in 1872. The couple moved to Washington D.C. in 1877, where Marian became a popular hostess. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, their home on H Street, across from Lafayette Park and the White House, became a center for the intellectual, artistic, and political elite of the city. After the death of her father, Marian “Clover” Adams became depressed. She took her own life on December 6, 1885. Henry Adams commissioned sculptor AugustusSaint-Gaudens to create a memorial for his wife.  The memorial, in Rock Creek Cemetery, was named The Mystery of the Hereafter and The Peace of God that Passeth Understanding by Saint-Gaudens, but it is commonly known as Grief. To read more about Marian “Clover” Adams, see the website of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The book FIVE OF HEARTS, by Patricia O’Toole (Clarkson Potter, 1990) provides an intimate look at the friendship between Henry and Marian Adams, John and Clara Hay, and geologist Clarence King.

Photograpgh by T. Renwand

Photo credit: Thank you to my nephew Tony for taking this photograph.