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Adelaide Eleanor Mahan (1872 – 1959) was born and raised in Brierfield, Alabama. In 1901 she enrolled in the Women’s Art School at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. While there she studied under notable instructors such as J.H. Twachtman and Willard Metcalf. During the summer of 1902 she traveled to Cape Cod where she studied under William Hawthorne at the Hawthorne School of Art (also known as the Cape Cod School of Art).

Adelaide returned to Brierfield in 1903 where she remained for several years. During this time, she went to Honduras to visit her brother, Jesse W. Mahan, Jr. who started a banana plantation there. Adelaide then returned to New York to complete her art studies at Cooper Union and graduated in 1911, receiving several honors for her art.

Following graduation she returned to Brierfield where she lived a relatively quiet life, although remaining active and involved in various activities such as the Studiosis Club and the Birmingham Art Association. She supported herself by painting and photography (using emulsion film – a state-of-the-art process for her time.) In addition, she also created and sold cards and kept bees. She died of congestive heart failure in 1959 and is buried in the Brierfield Cemetery.

Adelaide E. Mahan is the great aunt of Dr. Mike Mahan of Brierfield.

--by Sandra Swindall