January 29th

01-30-1873 – 1955 Maud Hunt Squire – Born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was a painter, printmaker, and book illustrator. At the age of twenty-one, she enrolled in the Cincinnati Art Academy where she met fellow student Ethel Mars, with whom she would live and travel with for the rest of her life. Squire began her professional career while still a student. By 1900, she and Mars were living in New York City, traveling to Europe, and collaborating on illustrating children’s book, such as Charles Kingsley’s The Heroes (1901). The couple moved to Paris in 1906 and became members of Gertrude Stein’s salon, meeting other artists, including Picasso and Matisse. At the beginning of WWI, Squire and Mars returned to the U.S. and settled in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Squire achieved recognition for her spectacular Provincetown prints. After WWI, the couple settled in Vence, France. Then, during WWII, the pair, then in their sixties, went into hiding near Grenoble, France. After the war, they returned to their home in Vence. Squire died in 1955; Mars in 1956. The two women are buried together in Vence.

01-30-1955 Thomas K. Duane – Born in Manhattan, New York and raised in Flushing, Queens, New York. He was a Democrat State Senator for the 29th District of New York from January 1999 to 2012. He was the only out gay member of the New York State Senate. His signature legislative accomplishments in the New York State legislature was the passage of the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act in 2002, and Timothy’s Law, which requires mental health equality for patients by insurance companies (2006). He was also instrumental in the ultimate passage of the Hate Crimes Protection Act, which stipulates longer penalties for those convicted, and mandates that New York State keep an active database of these crimes. Duane was lead sponsor of same-sex marriage legislation in the New York Senate. Duane’s partner of over 21 years is Louis Webre. Although he is no longer in politics, he continues to be an activist and an advocate for the LGBT community. He said, “ I will hold those positions for life.”