Charlotte Partridge was born in Minneapolis in 1881. As a child, she lived in Duluth, Minnesota, and later attended prep school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She graduated from the Northern Illinois State Normal School in 1905 and taught second grade in Oak Park, Illinois. She continued her studies at the Chicago School of Applied and Normal Art in 1910. In 1914, she joined the faculty of Downer College in Milwaukee, while teaching summer school at the Commonwealth School in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

At Downer College, Charlotte sought to liberate, modernize and diversify art studies. She was so successful that she was appointed head of the Fine Arts department.

Meanwhile, Miriam Frink had been born in Elkhart, Indiana in 1892. Miriam attended Downer College as a student, then transferred to Smith. She returned to Milwaukee in 1915 as an English teacher. At some point the two women met, and quickly became friends, roommates, and later, romantic partners. They shared a lifetime together-- over 50 years-- while building a remarkable legacy for Milwaukee.

In 1920, Charlotte was asked to take over the Chicago School of Art. Instead, she bought the school's equipment and opened her own school in the basement of the Layton Gallery of Art (758 N. Jefferson.) Charlotte, as the new curator, immediately began to modernize the galleries.

Charlotte's friend Miriam Frink accepted the role of co-director and business manager of the new Layton School of Art. "Miss Frink is the head and I am the feet of the school," said Charlotte.

The Layton School of Art was wildly progressive for its time, offering coursework far beyond the arts, including psychology, drama, poetry, literature, creative writing, and music appreciation. Several openly gay men taught at the Layton School-- and it became a haven for students not quite sure about themselves yet, as well.

From 1933-1934, Charlotte was the Wisconsin state chair for the Works Project Administration (WPA), and later supervised the Wisconsin Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1939. She surveyed the nation's art institutions and museums for a Federal Works Agency report in 1940, and organized the Wisconsin Centennial Art Exhibition in 1948.

Charlotte and Miriam had achieved their wildest dreams-- and just kept on achieving bigger and better things together. They traveled the world together as a couple. They lived an authentic and unapologetic life together-- while the outside world only saw "proper-seeming maiden aunties." They built a summer cottage in Fox Point and a family home in Mequon.

Miriam and Charlotte never outed themselves as lesbians, but they didn't exactly hide it, either. The perception of "close friends and devoted companions" became a smokescreen-- allowing them to pursue dreams only allowed to men at that time.

Sadly, these remarkably spirited women found themselves forcibly removed from the operation they'd built. In 1954, they were "retired" from their Layton School of Art by the Board of Directors for reasons unknown. While the board's formal statement was that the work was too exhausting for a pair of senior women, Charlotte Partridge later confided that she was bluntly told an academic operation of this size should be run by a man.

Charlotte continued serving the community well into her senior years. In 1969, Charlotte received an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from Lawrence University, applauding her contributions "beyond the field of art into industry and the general cultural and social life of the state."

Charlotte passed away at age 93 in early 1975. Her life-partner Miriam Frink devoted her remaining time to documenting the story of the Layton School of Art. After she passed away two years later, their collected works were donated to the University of Wisconsin Libraries.

Project curator Michail Takach wrote the following combined biography of Charlotte Partridge, Miriam Frink, and the Layton School of Art (from which the above bio of Partridge is extracted):

Charlotte Partridge (November 24, 1881- February 25, 1975)
Miriam Frink (August 4, 1892- August 23, 1977)

Charlotte Partridge was born in Minneapolis. As a child, she lived in Duluth, Minnesota, and later attended prep school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She graduated from the Northern Illinois State Normal School in 1905 and taught second grade in Oak Park, Illinois. She continued her studies at the Chicago School of Applied and Normal Art in 1910. In 1914, she joined the faculty of Downer College in Milwaukee, while teaching summer school at the Commonwealth School in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

At Downer College, Charlotte sought to liberate, modernize and diversify art studies. She was so successful that she was appointed head of the Fine Arts department.

Miriam Frink was born in Elkhart, Indiana, where her father was a famous local physician. Her mother was liberal beyond her time – and inspired Miriam to be an open-minded, progressive, and critical thinker. In pursuit of knowledge, Miriam attended Downer College as a student, then transferred to Smith. She returned to Milwaukee in 1915 as an English teacher.

The women quickly became friends, roommates, and later, romantic partners. They shared a lifetime together-- over 50 years-- while building a remarkable legacy for Milwaukee.

In 1920, Charlotte was asked to take over the Chicago School of Art. Instead, she bought the school's equipment and opened her own school in the basement of the Layton Gallery of Art (758 N. Jefferson.) This stunning Egyptian Revival Museum, built and donated by meat baron Frederick Layton in 1888, was unlike any other building in Milwaukee.

George Raab, a local artist, was the curator of the Layton Gallery at the time, but he had long outstayed his welcome. Unchanged for over thirty years, the museum had become a dusty Victorian time capsule young visitors found inaccessible. Worse yet, Raab – the second curator in the museum's history – was more committed to maintaining the status quo than pursuing a more modern experience. Attendance was approaching all-time lows in June 1922, when the Layton trustees called for Raab's resignation.

Charlotte, as the new curator, immediately began to modernize the galleries. First, she installed long-overdue electric lighting. Then, she repainted the walls a lighter color, re-hung all artwork at eye-level, and replaced the stagnant Victorian collection with modern Wisconsin artists. Soon, the Layton Art Gallery became an exciting, thriving place – rather than an impenetrable vault of old-fashioned, out-of-reach paintings.

Miriam accepted the role of co-director and business manager of the new Layton School of Art.

"Miss Frink is the head and I am the feet of the school," said Charlotte.

The Layton School of Art was wildly progressive for its time, offering coursework far beyond the arts, including psychology, drama, poetry, literature, creative writing, and music appreciation. Charlotte and Miriam felt students needed practical skills to find gainful employment in the arts. They believed a more integrated approach would help students learn, appreciate, and activate art within a long-term career path. The workplace was changing, and the call for industrial designers, commercial artists, interior decorators, photojournalists, and advertising illustrators was growing.

"Charlotte was the first person to give real understanding and support to the painters of Wisconsin and give them a gallery where they could exhibit," said Miriam Frink.

Among those painters was Frank Lloyd Wright, whose first-time exhibit in November 1930 sparked a local controversy. While setting up his exhibit, Wright shared some choice words about the new Milwaukee County Courthouse with a reporter.

"Milwaukee has betrayed its youth with that new courthouse and you may quote me as saying just that…That building will set Milwaukee back at least 50 years from any cultural standpoint. This generation doesn't mind it, but the new generation will mind it. It's an outrage… It reveals poverty of imagination….it reveals poverty of soul… Milwaukee is a cultural backwater. It doesn't realize how far the world has gone beyond it."
– Frank Lloyd Wright, November 20, 1930, Milwaukee Journal.

While Milwaukee was deeply offended by Wright's comments, the Layton Gallery brilliantly leveraged the publicity to drive admission. In just three days, over 1,200 visitors attended Wright's exhibit. A few days later, Wright no-showed for his lecture at the gallery. Later that evening, he revealed- over dinner with Charlotte and Miriam- that he'd been arrested. Charlotte paid him immediately to massage his sorrows. The next day, the police arrived at her home demanding she withhold his wages. She notified them she owed him no further money. (Note: Wright's negative comments about Milwaukee continued well into the 1950s, when he commented the Courthouse was "barely worth blowing up." "This is the most perverse town" he told the Journal. "Bring in anything artistic at your own peril."

From 1933-1934, Charlotte was the Wisconsin state chair for the Works Project Administration, and later supervised the Wisconsin Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1939. She surveyed the nation's art institutions and museums for a Federal Works Agency report in 1940, and organized the Wisconsin Centennial Art Exhibition in 1948.

As committed as they were to these national causes, Charlotte and Miriam were tremendously committed to advancing art appreciation in Milwaukee. During the Great Depression, they sacrificed their salaries to keep the school open. Eventually, they were able to move the school out of the aging and outdated Layton Gallery and into their own campus at Prospect and Ogden. The school offered evening courses for working students as early as 1945.

By the 1950s, the school had over 1,000 students and was highly regarded as a nationally accredited institution. The school not only attracted high-end artistic talent to Milwaukee, but a diverse community of men and women who might not be accepted at other institutions. The Lower East Side became a haven for artists, many of whom occupied rooms in the former mansions that still lined Prospect Avenue.

One student remembered renting a 600 sq ft room in the former "library" of an 1880s Teutonic castle, for $49 a month, which was considered expensive at the time. "You had to share a bathroom and kitchen, but you were living in artisanal luxury," he said. "My 'room' was enormous, and all the architectural details were still there, including a marble fireplace, a wall of built-in hand-carved mahogany bookshelves, stained glass, pocket doors, and enormous bay windows with window seats big enough to sleep in. There was even a 'panic room' hidden behind a bookcase with the original safe. No dormitory experience could ever possibly compare."

Several openly gay men taught at the Layton School-- and it became a haven for students not quite sure about themselves yet, as well. When a popular teacher attracted a following of married women, Miriam was asked if the board should be worried. She laughed and said "you don't have anything to worry about at all."

Charlotte and Miriam had achieved their wildest dreams-- and just kept on achieving bigger and better things together. They traveled the world together as a couple, never far away from the pistol Miriam always carried with her. They lived an authentic and unapologetic life together-- while the outside world only saw "proper-seeming maiden aunties." They built a summer cottage in Fox Point and a family home in Mequon. The press, featuring their homes, noted that the women had put their initials into the cement of the cottage fireplace. The journalist noted that the home was one "two friends could share," while commenting the women frequently completed each others' sentences.

Note, Miriam and Charlotte never outed themselves as lesbians, but they didn't exactly hide it, either. The perception of "close friends and devoted companions" became a smokescreen-- allowing them to pursue dreams only allowed to men at that time.

Sadly, these remarkably spirited women found themselves forcibly removed from the operation they'd built. In 1954, they were "retired" by the Board of Directors for reasons unknown. While the board's formal statement was that the work was too exhausting for a pair of senior women, Charlotte Partridge later confided that she was bluntly told an academic operation of this size should be run by a man.

"I felt it was the beginning of the end," said student Margaret Davis Clark. "It was very sad. Charlotte was marvelous and Miriam was tremendous along with her. Miriam was like a Great Dane-- [she] protected, undergirded, and saw to it that things worked out for Charlotte."

The Milwaukee Common Council honored Charlotte and Miriam for building an "art school nationally accredited and recognized for the excellence of its work. The Layton Art League established a scholarship in their honor, which awarded a talent-based $500 gift each year for the next two decades.

Unsurprisingly, the school began a dramatic two-decade decline. With its campus jeopardized by the Park East Freeway, its finances in disarray, and its attendance dwindling, the Layton School of Art was demolished in 1969, relocated to Glendale in 1970, and closed forever in 1974.

The East Side art community began to disappear-- along with the mansion rooming-houses-- and the neighborhood quickly became a less affordable place for starving artists to live.

Charlotte continued serving the community well into her senior years. She worked closely with the Walnut Area Improvement Council to improve the neighborhood through affordable housing and community gardens. As a long-time member of the Zonta Club, she conceived an independent living project for single senior women.

In 1969, Charlotte received an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from Lawrence University, applauding her contributions "beyond the field of art into industry and the general cultural and social life of the state."

Charlotte passed away at age 93 in early 1975. Miriam devoted her time to documenting the story of the Layton School of Art. After a dramatic decline in health, she moved to the Mequon Care Center in early 1977 and passed away a few months later at age 85. Their collected works were donated to the University of Wisconsin Libraries.

Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, founded in 1974 by seven Layton School instructors, continues the noble tradition Miriam and Charlotte founded over a century ago. In 2010, the Museum of Wisconsin Art honored them with a joint lifetime achievement award-- something they were denied in their lifetimes.