Harlan Fiske Stone: A Man for All Seats
Social Life & Pastimes
“It looks as though we would be out every evening this month: two Embassies, the White House, and three private parties are on the list this week.”
— Stone to friend Sterling Carr, January 3, 1934
Active Social Calendars
The Stones were known in Washington, D.C. society and beyond as gracious and generous hosts of dinner parties and social activities. They enjoyed music, fine dining, and traveling both domestically and abroad. Stone was particularly fond of wine and cheese and enjoyed sampling the local varieties throughout their various travel destinations.
Stone and wife Agnes in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, July 1938.
Stone and wife Agnes leaving their home to attend the White House reception for the Judiciary, January 10, 1936.
Harris & Ewing
Agnes’s Activities
Agnes Stone was active with numerous local charities, including the Visiting Nurse Association, Washington YMCA, and American Red Cross. She was also an accomplished watercolorist who painted extensively, even while on vacation, and had two solo exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.
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Watercolor of a Mexican landscape by Agnes Stone, c. 1930-1958.
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Watercolor of a Mountain and Valley scene by Agnes Stone, c. 1930-1958.
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Watercolor of a Maine fishing scene by Agnes Stone, c. 1930-1958.
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Program from one of Agnes Stone’s solo art exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., 1937.
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“Ultimately we come back to Maine in August for a course of my usual diet of lobsters and certioraris.”
— Stone to friend Stanley King, January 14, 1935
Summers in Maine
Like most members of the Court, Stone escaped the heat and humidity of Washington, D.C. during the summer months. The Stones frequented their summer cottage on Isle au Haut, a remote island accessible only by boat located in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Stone rowed his boat along the coastline, Agnes enjoyed painting, and the couple organized picnics and clambakes for friends. Stone’s “usual diet of lobsters and certioraris” referred to the fact that he arranged for petitions for certiorari—requests filed by parties seeking Supreme Court review of their cases—to be sent to Maine, enabling him to work from his cottage during the summer recess period.
Top: Stone family members in Maine, from left to right: Lauson Stone, Jane Hunter Stone (Lauson’s wife), Agnes Harvey Stone, and Harlan Fiske Stone, c. 1936-1946.
Bottom Right: Stone and friend William P. Turner ride in motorboat Sabrina, named after the nymph statue at Amherst College, c. 1931-1941.
“Father liked Isle au Haut – probably for its natural beauty and the peace and quiet it afforded....He also liked the Island people, the simple picnics, the delicious lobster caught right at the Island, the painting excursions with Mother (he would read – she paint), the boating, and the walks.”
— Lauson Stone, Justice Stone’s son, September 14, 1950