Nichols, Rose Standish (1872-1960). American garden designer, writer, and activist. Born in Boston, MA, daughter of Arthur Howard Nichols and Elizabeth Homer Nichols, Rose Nichols became interested in garden design; her first project was at her family’s country house at the artists’ colony of Cornish, NH. She was encouraged by her uncle, sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. She travelled extensively in Europe, writing books on English, Italian, and Spanish pleasure gardens, as well as writing many articles for magazines. Nichols was also active in the women’s suffrage and peace movements. Cather met Nichols in Boston, and corresponded with her about a two-part article on the letters of Saint-Gaudens, which appeared in McClure’s in 1908; later Cather had to decline an article on gardens from Nichols.

Saint-Gaudens, Augusta Fisher Homer (1848-1926). American painter; wife of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Born in Roxbury, MA, a younger daughter of Thomas J. Homer and Mary Elizabeth Fisher Homer, Augusta Homer (a distant cousin of painter Winslow Homer) went to Rome to study painting in the early 1870s. There she met sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens; her parents gave her permission to marry him after he won his first important commission. They had one son, Homer Saint-Gaudens. After discovering her husband’s affair, Augusta Saint-Gaudens separated from him and began travelling widely, including to the Arctic and in the Middle East. After Saint-Gaudens was diagnosed with cancer in 1900, and though herself coping with increasing deafness, she returned to him and managed his correspondence and business affairs. After his death in 1907 she worked to secure his legacy, establishing their home in Cornish, NH, as a memorial to him. Cather may not have met Augusta Saint-Gaudens, but they were both involved with the publication of some of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ letters in McClure’s.