Virginia Tanner Green

Virginia Tanner Green
Born(1881-11-24)November 24, 1881
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedAugust 7, 1950(1950-08-07) (aged 68)
New Castle, New Hampshire, U.S.
OccupationsWriter, pageant director, theatrical designer

Carolyn Virginia Tanner Green (November 24, 1881 – August 7, 1950) was an American dancer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who wrote and directed plays and pageants, and participated in the women's suffrage movement.

Early life and education

Green was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of John Alexander Tanner and Caroline Maria Littlefield Tanner. Her father was a physician.[1][2] She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1905, and earned a master's degree from Radcliffe in 1906.[3] "My college work made me a keen student of the ancient dance steps, created a desire to study into the ways of forgotten ages and to seek out new music and dance meters", she explained of her education's value.[4]

Career

Green leading a parade in Boston in 1915[5]

Green was an active suffragist and civic pageant organizer in the 1910s.[6] She demonstrated "ancient" dances at a lecture in Boston in 1910.[7] She worked with the Children's Playground Association in Baltimore on a 1912 pageant.[4][8] She performed as a dancer and directed a pageant for the annual fête in Rockport in 1913.[9] In 1914 she directed a historical procession in Stonington, Connecticut, and the dance segments of the Brooklyn Historical Pageant.[10] In 1915, she portrayed "Victory" Boston suffrage parade,[11][12] and wrote, directed, and starred in a Greek-inspired pageant in Maine.[13][14] She staged Gluck's Orpheus in 1916, to raise funds for Radcliffe's Choral Society Scholarship Fund.[15]

In 1922 Green directed Dear Jane, a romantic comedy about Jane Austen, written by Eleanor Holmes Hinkley.[16][17] She wrote and directed "The Pageant of Portsmouth", a 1923 event with a cast of hundreds, marking the New Hampshire city's tercentenary.[3] She directed a pageant at Bennington's sesquicentennial celebration in 1927.[18][19] In 1928 she wrote a pageant to dedicate the Carlton Bridge in Bath, Maine.[20] In 1930 she directed a musical comedy, The Sky Scrapers, at Radcliffe College.[21] She was elected commissioner of the Cambridge Girl Scouts in 1931.[22]

Green was a member of the Drama League of America,[23] the Daughters of the American Revolution, Zonta International, the New England History Society, and the Cambridge Historical Society.[22]

Personal life

Tanner married judge Louis Lawrence Green in 1914. They had a daughter, Lois.[24] Green died in 1950, at the age of 68, in New Castle, New Hampshire.[3][1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Mrs. Louis L. Green". The Portsmouth Herald. 1950-08-08. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Mrs. John A. Tanner". The News and Advance. 1930-08-12. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 "Green, Virginia Tanner, 1881-1950". Past Perfect Online, Portsmouth Athenaeum. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  4. 1 2 "Miss Virginia Tanner Chats of the Dance and its Place in Art". The Evening Sun. 1912-05-17. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Miss Virginia Tanner as Victory at Head of Parade". The Morning Union. 1915-10-24. p. 11. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Wood, Sherry (2020-05-10). "At The Athenaeum: N.H. warriors helped win women's battle for the vote". Portsmouth Herald. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  7. ↑ "Art of Dancing and Growth Illustrated; Mrs. Lilla Viles Wyman and Miss Virginia Tanner Give a Striking Lecture in Jordan Hall". The Boston Globe. 1910-12-09. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Will Appear in Bare-Foot Dance". The Baltimore Sun. 1912-05-14. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Garden Party and Fete Given at Rockport". The Boston Globe. 1913-07-17. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Brooklyn Pageant Plans; Miss Virginia Tanner, Who Will Direct Dancing, Arrives in Town". Brooklyn Eagle. 1914-08-15. p. 7. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Suffragists Promise a Record Turnout Today". The Boston Globe. 1915-10-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-06-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Women of Great Lynn in Remarkable 'Votes for Women' Demonstration on Sts. of Boston". The Daily Item. 1915-10-18. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Plans for Pageant, Water Carnival Assuming Shape". Portland Sunday Telegram. 1915-04-18. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Virginia Tanner Will Take Leading Part; Great Preparation for Greek Pageant at Cumberland Foreside". Sun-Journal. 1915-09-07. p. 14. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Radcliffe College". The Radcliffe Bulletin: 7. March 1916.
  16. ↑ "47-Club Production 'Dear Jane', Big Success". The Boston Globe. 1922-03-22. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Eleanor Holmes Hinkley". The Eliot–Hale Letters. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
  18. ↑ "Former Pageant Director Here Dies". The Bennington Evening Banner. 1950-08-08. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Pageant to be Given 3 Times; Virginia Tanner Has Been Engaged to Produce It Near Gypsy Lane". The Bennington Evening Banner. 1927-03-31. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1931). Catalog of Copyright Entries. New Series: 1930. Copyright Office, Library of Congress. p. 583.
  21. ↑ "Racliffe College". The Harvard Graduates' Magazine. 39 (153): 82 – via Internet Archive.
  22. 1 2 "News from the Classes: 1905". The Radcliffe Quarterly. 15 (4): 190. October 1931.
  23. ↑ Drama League of America Boston Center (1915). A Selective List of Plays for Amateurs ... Smith & Porter Press. p. 40.
  24. ↑ "Louis L. Green". The Portsmouth Herald. 1973-07-20. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
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