Following the deaths of her four children, eminent Saratogian Katrina Trask (1852–1922) devoted several decades to activism in various causes. A particular focus was addressing the vast divide between Gilded Age high society, and the servants and laborers who made the upper class lifestyles possible.
In 2014 local visual artist Rumara Jewett researched sculptor Daniel Chester French’s The Spirit of Life bronze for its 100th anniversary renovation in Congress Park and discovered the hidden influence of Katrina Trask on the development of the design. That initiated years of in-depth Trask research and efforts to bring new knowledge to the public in educational presentations, articles, historical tours, and art. Rumara is happy to be sharing perspectives on Mrs. Trask’s activism in social justice with our Unitarian Universalist community.