Elizabeth Harrington Macdonald

Elizabeth Harrington Macdonald, 98

Delaware Artist, Historian

Betty Harrington Macdonald, beloved mother of Andrew, died on February 1st at her home in Alexandria, Virginia. Betty, as she was known, was born July 19, 1912 in Dover to William Watson Harrington and Sarah Godwin. She could never remember a time she was not painting. From her father, who was Chancellor of Delaware from 1938-50, mother and paternal aunt Jessie Harrington, she also developed a love for history, especially Delaware history.

From 1930-32 she attended the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, which later became the Moore College of Art. She graduated though from Sarah Lawrence College in 1936 (one of the first 4-year classes), where she majored in art. After college, she studied art under Harvey Dunn (a student of the great Delaware illustrator Howard Pyle) at the Grand Central Art School at Grand Central Station in NY.

In the 1930s and 40s she began to exhibit her watercolors in Rehoboth Beach. She was an early member of the Rehoboth Art League. She loved painting watercolors but her work became even better known after her pen and ink drawings of historic landmarks appeared in the Wilmington Journal-Every Evening on Saturdays. The Delaware State Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists published a book of her drawings, along with text, titled Historic Landmarks of Delaware and the Eastern Shore. It appeared in 1963, followed by a Bicentennial edition in 1976. Her drawings graced the calendar of the Farmer's Bank of Dover for many years.

In later years, she painted watercolors at her summer home in Harrisville, NH, and commissioned portraits in Alexandria in winter. Her interest in history led her to spend almost 15 years at the National Archives researching the history of shipbuilding in southern Delaware. In 1990, the Milford Historical Society published her book, Mispillion-Built Sailing Vessels (1761-1917).

In 1998, the Sewell C. Biggs Museum in Dover held a retrospective of her work titled, "Painting Ever Since She Can Remember." (Essay by Jann Gilmore.)

She was a former member of the Colonial Dames of America, the Historical Society of Delaware, and the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. She loved the outdoors, family and history. She and her husband, Capt. W. R. Macdonald (USN Ret.) enjoyed hiking and traveling. Her husband, two beloved sisters, Sarah and Nancy, and her nephew, Dan, predeceased her.

She is survived by her son, Andrew H. Macdonald, of Alexandria, VA, and a step-son Charles Macdonald of Aix-en-Provence, France; granddaughters Lisa Macdonald of Singapore, and Julia Collins of West Hartford, Ct.; a niece Sarah Naradzay of Aberdeen, NC, her grandniece Catherine Naradzay; several nephews, John Herrick, of Sydney, Australia and Michael Herrick of Poplar Island, MD.

There will be a memorial service at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Alexandria on Friday, February 11, at 11 am.