Ema Spencer (March 1, 1857 – September 30, 1941) was an American photographer, newspaper columnist, and teacher from Newark, Ohio. In 1898, alongside Clarence H. White, Spencer was one of the co-founders of the Newark Camera Club, an amateur photography club.
Early life Ema Spencer was born to Dr. Benjamin Franklin Spencer and his wife, Susan Porter Spencer, in the Licking County, Ohio village of Gratiot. She had a sister, Carolyn, and a brother, Charles Hildreth. She attended Newark High School where she graduated Valedictorian and she went on to study at the Young Ladies' Institute in nearby Granville.
Photography career In early 1898 Spencer and Clarence H. White co-founded the Newark Camera Club, a group of fifteen amateur photographers from the city. That fall she served as the Secretary for the newly established Ohio State Association of Amateur Photographers. Spencer's photography career continued until at least 1914 despite the Newark Camera Club's dissolution in 1906 when White left for New York. YearExhibitionLocationNotes1898Newark Camera Club161 North 4th St., Newark, Ohio, U.S.Held at Ema Spencer's home1899Newark Camera ClubThe Newark Camera Club 1899 Exhibition Catalogue, Licking County Historical SocietyYMCA, Newark, Ohio, U.S.1899Philadelphia SalonPennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.1900Chicago Photographic SalonThe Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.1900Third Philadelphia Photographic SalonAlfred Stieglitz, Gertrude Käsebier, Clarence H. White, Frank Eugene served as jury members1900Newark Camera ClubYMCA, Newark, Ohio, U.S.1901New York Camera Club1901Ninth Annual Exhibition of the Photographic SalonDudley Gallery at the Egyptian Hall, London, UKOrganized by the Linked Ring1902The "Photo-Secession" at the Arts ClubNational Arts Club, New York City, U.S.1902International ExpositionTurin, ItalyAwarded the silver medal1903The First International Exhibition for Contemporary Picture-PhotographyWiesbaden, GermanyAwarded unknown medal1903An Exhibition of Salon PhotographsThe Photographic Society of Philadelphia1906Fourteenth Annual Exhibition of the Photographic SalonLondon, UK1907Annual Member's Exhibition, New York Photo ClubNew York City, U.S.1910International Exhibition of Pictorial PhotographyBuffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, U.S.1911International ExpositionHamburg, GermanyAwarded unknown medal1912An Exhibition Illustrating the Progress of the Art of PhotographyMontross Art Galleries, New York City, U.S.1914Ema SpencerBrooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn, New York CitySolo exhibition1914The Fifty-Ninth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic SocietyGallery of the Royal Society of British Artists, London, UL1988In Pursuit of Art Amid DifficultiesThe Ohio State University, Newark Art Gallery, the Lancaster Library, and the Ohio Historical SocietyPosthumous. Organized by the Ohio State University, Newark and the Licking County Historical Society2020No Mere Button-Pressers: Clarence H. White, Ema Spencer, and The Newark Camera ClubColumbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. and The Works, Newark, Ohio, U.S.Posthumous
Newspaper career Early in her life Spencer held a variety of jobs at the Newark Advocate. In the 1880s she was managing three of the departments at the paper. In 1916 Spencer began writing a daily column called "The Melting Pot" under the pen name "Aunt Ca'line." She continued the column for 25 years, stopping only near the end of her life.
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