Artist Laura Era paints the Unrecognized Member  

 of Abraham Lincoln’s Cabinet,  

Anna Ella Carroll

You  can’t keep a good woman down. Just ask well-known portrait artist and  gallery owner, Laura Era, who has dedicated many hours to bringing to  life the all-but-forgotten image of Anna Ella Carroll. More than a  century following Carroll’s death, after being ignored, oppressed,  and—literally—erased from history, Era has artfully restored Anna Ella  Carroll to her rightful place in history.

Anna  Ella Carroll was an intriguing and atypical 19th century woman who  emerged from the male-dominated realm of war, politics, and diplomacy.  As a key military strategist, Presidential advisor, and “unrecognized”  member of Abraham Lincoln’s Cabinet, Carroll was probably the most  powerful woman in America during the Civil War. Yet, her accomplishments  are virtually unknown. When Carroll died in 1894, deprived of honor,  title, pension, and acknowledgement, her life story was already  considered a model for the Women’s Suffrage Movement.  A modern  biographer described Carroll as “hands down the most important political  woman of the 19th century.”

Laura Era was commissioned by a local group that wanted to bring Anna’s story back to the forefront with a popular image. 

Anna  Ella Carroll was an intriguing and atypical 19th century woman who  emerged from the male-dominated realm of war, politics, and diplomacy.  As a key military strategist, Presidential advisor, and “unrecognized”  member of Abraham Lincoln’s Cabinet, Carroll was probably the most  powerful woman in America during the Civil War. Yet, her accomplishments  are virtually unknown. When Carroll died in 1894, deprived of honor,  title, pension, and acknowledgement, her life story was already  considered a model for the Women’s Suffrage Movement. A modern  biographer described Carroll as “hands down the most important political  woman of the 19th century.”includes the addition of Anna  Ella Carroll sitting in the previously empty chair and wearing the red shawl.

Carroll  was born at Kingston Hall in Somerset County, and later lived in  Dorchester County, Maryland also home to Laura Era, who has come to view  Anna as a kindred spirit.