The Cones and The Steins
Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo Stein were orphaned and moved to Baltimore to live with an aunt. They soon became part of the Cone sisters' social crowd. During Claribel's time at the Women's Medical College of Johns Hopkins University, Gertrude was also studying there. There was a big age gap between Claribel and Gertrude. These unconventional women were drawn to each other, however, by their common interest in music, fine arts, and sociable conversations. Etta credited Leo for helping her develop an eye for modern art. Etta was reserved and conservative. She was awe struck by Gertrude's Bohemian lifestyle, and there are even hints that they were very likely lovers at some point. That relationship cooled, however, after Toklas came on the scene.
Stein wrote about Etta and Claribel in Two Women:
| “ | There were two of them, they were sisters, they were large women, they were rich, they were very different one from the other one. | ” |
Read more about this topic: Cone Sisters
Famous quotes containing the word cones:
“...there was the annual Fourth of July picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. ...I thought it was ridiculous to have to go there in a skirt. But I did it anyway because it was something that might possibly have an effect. I remember walking around in my little white blouse and skirt and tourists standing there eating their ice cream cones and watching us like the zoo had opened.”
—Martha Shelley, U.S. author and social activist. As quoted in Making History, part 3, by Eric Marcus (1992)