109:(Young Women's Christian Association) in New York City, and found freelance work for Friendship Press. By 1942, she was the publishing company's artistic director, overseeing all aspects of its book productions. She was the first African American to hold a director's position in the publishing industry. Jefferson additionally did freelance work for the major publishing companies Doubleday, Macmillan, and Viking, as well as the academic presses of Columbia University, Oxford University, Rutgers University, and Syracuse University. Jefferson designed illustrations of black and white children for the songbook
93:, which in the first half of the 20th century had the third highest enrollment of African American women in United States colleges and universities that were not dedicated solely to African American Studies. While there, she studied art composition, design, and lithography. From Hunter, Jefferson moved on to study graphic arts and printing practices at
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was published, which documents her research, photographs, and drawings of her visits to
Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe; it contains over three hundred of her illustrations.
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Louise E. Jefferson was born in
Washington, DC as an only child to parents Louise and Paul Jefferson. Her father, a calligrapher for the United States Treasury Department, encouraged her to draw as a child. She studied art in New York City, where she was active in the African American art scene in
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In 2002 the estate of Louise E. Jefferson was gifted to The
Amistad Research Center, which is an open research facility in New Orleans, Louisiana dedicated to the records of African Americans and other underrepresented communities. The collection includes a myriad of Jefferson's works, including
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drawings and designs, a vast collection of photography and negatives, and other ephemera. Also in the research center's collection are
Jefferson's financial records, appointment diaries, correspondence, notes and notebooks, and a book proposal and rough draft for an unpublished book,
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In 1960, Jefferson retired from
Friendship Press. She would, however, continue to produce work, designing book jacket covers and maps for universities and publishing companies, as well as publicity materials for the 23rd and 26th annual
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hotel. Following her retirement, Jefferson embarked on five trips to Africa, where she documented her travels in both illustration and photography. In 1974,
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187:. After Jefferson's retirement from Friendship Press in 1960, she made several trips to Africa, eventually publishing her book
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Following her studies at
Columbia University, Jefferson began her artistic career designing posters for the
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After attending public schools in
Washington DC, Jefferson began her artistic education taking lessons at
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Jefferson kept an art studio in
Litchfield, CT during her later years.
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African-American artist, graphic designer, publishing director
403:"Jefferson, Louise E. (1908–2002) | Amistad Research Center"
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Twentieth
Century Americans of Negro Lineage, First Edition.
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Beaux Art Balls, held respectively in 1963 and 1966 at The
352:"Extravagant Crowd: Carl Van Vechten's Portraits of Women"
367:"African-American Women and Hunter College: 1873–1945"
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before moving to New York City in 1935. She attended
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460:"African American art and the Harmon Foundation"
290:AIGA Design Journeys: Louise E. Jefferson video
191:in 1974. Jefferson's later years were spent in
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553:Columbia University School of the Arts alumni
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151:being credited as a founding member of the
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458:Evenhaugen, Anne (February 22, 2013).
435:"Louise E. Jefferson's Design Journey"
204:The Amistad Research Center Collection
252:The Friendship Press, New York. 1965.
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77:(1908–2002) was an American artist.
481:. William Collins Sons and Co Ltd.
278:Louise Jefferson Papers (1925-2001)
113:In 1936, then governor of Georgia,
64:Howard University, Washington, DC
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327:Opportunity Journal of Negro Life
68:Columbia University, New York, NY
407:amistadresearchcenter.tulane.edu
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264:The Decorative Arts of Africa.
199:Selected works and collections
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477:Jefferson, Louise E. (1974).
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135:The Decorative Arts of Africa
66:Hunter College, New York, NY
185:National Council of Churches
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323:"The Credit Line is Lou's"
503:"Amistad Research Center"
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223:Dancing at the Club Savoy
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262:Jefferson, Louise E.,
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533:Pictorial map artists
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127:National Urban League
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75:Louise E. Jefferson
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365:Perkins, Linda M.
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528:2002 deaths
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216:Lithographs
165:Selma Burke
53:Nationality
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444:2019-05-10
412:2019-04-12
301:References
81:Education
61:Education
56:American
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171:, and
149:Harlem
370:(PDF)
483:ISBN
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241:Maps
107:YWCA
44:2002
41:Died
32:1908
29:Born
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