Eleanor Campbell (illustrator)

Eleanor B. Campbell (1894–1986)[1] was an early-twentieth-century illustrator of children's books and portrait artist.[2]

Education and career

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Campbell was from Philadelphia,[3][4][5] and spent part of her childhood in Seattle, Washington.[6] Both her parents had studied art, and one of her sisters was Elizabeth Campbell Warhanik, an artist and one of the founders of Women Painters of Washington.[7] Campbell studied at the Sorbonne.[2] She illustrated children's books, especially for the P. F. Volland Company and Scott Foresman. A review of Roberta Goes Adventuring (P.F. Volland, 1931) described Campbell as "the artist who knows all about little boys and girls as well as little black dogs with little pink tongues."[8]

Campbell was the first illustrator of the Dick and Jane series of beginning readers created by Zerna Sharp.[3][4][5][9] Her watercolors[10] for the series were intended to show "scenes as a child might see the world",[1] including everyday activities[11] such as when "a preschooler tries to give a teddy bear a drink at a water fountain or dress up in their parents' clothes or help mom take the laundry down from the line before the rain starts."[1] Campbell based her illustrations on photographs[11] she took of her friends' and relations' children.[5] An exhibition of 50 of Campbell's original artworks for the series, held at the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, was so popular that it was extended from the planned three months to seventeen months.[12] The Dick and Jane illustrations have been criticised for reinforcing class, race and gender stereotypes.[11]

Campbell's illustrations were also featured in advertising for Kellogg's and Wheatena cereals.[5]

After retiring, Campbell lived in Seattle, where she died in 1986.[6]

Selected publications

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  • School Days. Whitman, 1931.
  • Raymond, Margaret Thomsen. Roberta Goes Adventuring. Illustrated by Eleanor Campbell. Joliet: P. F. Volland Company, 1931. Happy Children series.[8]
  • White, Jessie Penniman. Top O' the Morning. Joliet: P. F. Volland Company, 1931.
  • Gray, William S. We Look and See. Chicago: Scott, Foresman, 1940.
  • Gray, William S. We Come and Go. Chicago: Scott, Foresman, 1946 & 1947.
  • Campbell, Eleanor, William S. Gray, Paul R. Hanna, Genevieve Anderson Hoyt, Walter Oschman, and John Osebold. Guidebook for a Social Studies Book B "Hello, David". Chicago: Scott, Foresman, 1948.
  • O'Brien, J. A. Fun with John and Jean. Toronto: W. J. Gage, 1952.
  • Gray, William S. The New We Look and See. Chicago: Scott, Foresman, 1956.
  • Campbell, Eleanor -, Elizabeth Rider Montgomery, Dorthy Baruch, and William S. Gray. The World of Dick and Jane and Friends. NY: Scott, Foresman, and Company (Grosset & Dunlap), 2004. (compilation)

References

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  1. ^ a b c Grant, Daniel (2 December 1996). "'Dick & Jane' exhibit is an appeal to nostalgia". The Berkshire Eagle. p. B7. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Eleanor Brown Campbell - Artist, Fine Art Prices, Auction Records for Eleanor Brown Campbell". www.askart.com.
  3. ^ a b "See father paint. Children's author was model for 'Dick and Jane' books". Rutland Daily Herald. Rutland, Vermont. Associated Press. 28 December 1999. p. 5.
  4. ^ a b Kismaric, Carole (2004). Growing Up with Dick and Jane- Wal Mart: Learning and Living the American Dream (Reprint ed.). Harpercollins. pp. 21, 31, 112. ISBN 9780060766818. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Ward, Jervette R. (Spring 2012). "In Search of Diversity: Dick and Jane and Their Black Playmates". Making Connections: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Cultural Diversity. 13 (2): 20. ISSN 1930-1987.
  6. ^ a b Wergeland, Kari (September 4, 2004). "See kids read with Dick and Jane". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  7. ^ Martin, David Francis; Whatcom Museum of History and Art (2005). Enduring Legacy: Women Painters of Washington 1930-2005. Whatcom Museum of History and Art. p. 44. ISBN 9780938506119. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Reviews of Recent Books - "Roberta Goes Adventuring", by Margaret Thomsen Raymond". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. St. Louis, Missouri. 14 November 1931. p. 6. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  9. ^ Ware, Susan; Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. (2005). Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary ... Cambridge: Belknap. p. 583. ISBN 067401488X. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  10. ^ Kelly, Katy (19 September 1996). "See Dick and Jane - Spot too - come back". The Ithaca Journal. Ithaca, New York. Gannett News Service. p. 3, Arts & Leisure. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  11. ^ a b c Banta, Gratia J. (Winter 2004). "Reading Pictures. Searching for Excellence in Picture Books". Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children. 2 (3): 30. ISSN 1542-9806.
  12. ^ Cook, Kim (15 August 2009). "See Dick and Jane ... on the wall". Courier-Post. Camden, New Jersey. Associated Press. p. 2D. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
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