Editing Henry Cowell (section)

===Childhood===
Cowell was born on March 11, 1897, in rural [[Menlo Park, California]], a suburb of [[San Francisco]].<ref name=lat/> His father, Henry Blackwood "Harry" Cowell, was a romantic [[poet]] and recent immigrant from [[County Clare]], [[Ireland]].<ref name=risch>Rischitelli, p. 17</ref> His mother, [[Clarissa Dixon|Clara "Clarissa" Cowell]] (née Dixon), was a [[activism|political activist]], [[author]], and native of the [[American Plains]], who was 46 when she gave birth to Henry in addition to being over ten years older than her husband.<ref name=risch/><ref>Sachs, pp. 14-15</ref><ref name=ancestry>[https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/877904:5187%20%20Clarissa%20Dixon%20in%20the%20California,%20U.S.,%20Death%20Index,%201905-1939 Clarissa Dixon in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1905-1939], ancestry.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.</ref><ref name=abc>Peters, Cathy; Livingston, Guy (2014). [https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/intothemusic/5318730 ''"The extraordinary life of Henry Cowell"''] ''Australian Broadcasting Corporation'', Retrieved 20 June 2022</ref> Clarissa's ancestry was similarly [[Scotland|Scotch]] and Irish, although her paternal lineage had been in America for centuries, with figures including astronomer [[Jeremiah Dixon]], one of the surveyors behind the American [[Mason–Dixon line]].<ref>Sachs, p. 11</ref> After meeting for the first time, the two quickly wed and undertook [[bohemianism|bohemian]] lifestyles, residing in a small, crude [[cottage]] (later demolished in 1936) Harry had built on the outskirts of the city — where Henry would eventually be born. It was in his first few years that Henry had his first exposures to music.<ref name=s2>Sachs, p. 19</ref>[[File:Henry Cowell playing the violin — aged 5.jpg|thumb|left|upright 0.8|Henry Cowell playing the violin — aged 5 ({{circa|1902}})]]

His parents often sang to him the folk songs of their native homelands, and he was soon able to recite them before he learned to speak.<ref name=time>(30 November 1953). [https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,823160,00.html "Music: Pioneer at 56"]. ''Time''. Retrieved 11 June 2022.</ref><ref>Blumhofer, Jonathan (2018). [https://artsfuse.org/171144/rethinking-the-repertoire-23-henry-cowells-piano-concerto/ "Rethinking the Repertoire #23 – Henry Cowell's Piano Concerto"]. ''The Arts Fuse''. Retrieved 13 June 2022.</ref> During occasional visits to downtown San Francisco, he also recalled hearing the traditional music of [[music of Indonesia|Indonesia]], [[music of China|China]], [[music of Japan|Japan]], and others.<ref name=abc/> The family was gifted small instruments by friends and neighbors, including a [[zither|mandolin harp]] and a quarter-size [[violin]], the latter of which the young Henry took an interest in, making it his instrument of choice for a few years.<ref name=risch/><ref name=s3>Sachs, pp. 23-24</ref> His mother eventually decided to stop both the private lessons and his public school career after Cowell had severe bouts of [[Sydenham's chorea]] and [[scarlet fever]] — from which he eventually recovered.<ref name=s3/><ref>Carwithen, Edward Ralph, "Henry Cowell: Composer and Educator," (1991) PhD Diss., University of Florida, p. 200</ref>

Due to an ongoing affair between Harry and a French mistress, the Cowells amicably divorced in 1903, by which time Henry was 5.<ref>Tommasini, Anthony (1997), [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/arts/modern-times-catch-up-to-a-past-maverick.html "Modern Times Catch Up to a Past Maverick"], ''The New York Times'', Retrieved 11 June 2022.</ref> He was thereafter raised in [[Chinatown, San Francisco|Chinatown]] by his mother, who imbued him with her strong [[anarchism|anarchist]] and [[feminism|feminist]] beliefs. It was during this time he exhibited a strong defiance of [[Gender role|gender stereotypes]] — he refused to have his hair cut, often wore women's clothing and adored the color pink while preferring to be called "Mrs. Jones".<ref name=s2/> He also had further music exposures when engaging with his new [[Asian Americans|Asian-American]] friends and their families in the neighborhood.<ref name=s4>Hicks, p. 22</ref><ref>Daniel, p. 73</ref> After the [[1906 San Francisco Earthquake]], much of the Cowells' possessions and memorabilia were destroyed in the ensuing fire, after which Henry and his mother fled the state of [[California]]. With no permanent place to live, Henry resided with his mother's family and friends around the American Plains and Midwest, later in [[New York City]]. School teachers of this time often took note of his "musical genius" and eccentric personality that was hindered by "extreme [[poverty]]".<ref>Lewis M. Terman, ''The Intelligence of School Children'' (1919), p. 246</ref> [[Lewis Terman]], an eventual pioneer of the [[IQ test]], met with the young Henry during the family's brief stay in rural [[Iowa]]. He would posit that Cowell had, "language almost literary. No college professor of English could have improved upon it. And it was so natural. His conversation breathes [[intelligence]]. I had the feeling that no unschooled boy who was not a [[genius]] of the first order could speak thus"<ref>Lewis M. Terman, "Notes on Henry. March 1, 1917." Copy of holograph.</ref> and, "Although the IQ is satisfactory, it is matched by scores of others. [...] But there is only one Henry."<ref>Skinner, pp. 107-108</ref> Clarissa's career as a progressive feminist writer did not earn her much money, and by the time they eventually returned to San Francisco, she had become terminally ill with [[breast cancer]].<ref name=ancestry/> They found their home destroyed from the prior earthquake, and looted by [[vandalism|vandals]] after standing unoccupied for so long. Neighbors housed the two as the then thirteen-year-old Henry restored it. In order to keep them financially afloat, he took up small jobs such as picking and selling flower bulbs at the [[Menlo Park Train Station]], janitorial work, [[farming]], and cleaning a neighbor's chicken houses.<ref>Daniel, p. 74</ref>