Showing posts with label Cooper Union. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooper Union. Show all posts

Monday, June 29, 2026

Creator: A Few Details About John Alcorn, Illustrator and Designer

John Earle Alcorn was born on February 10, 1935 in Corona, New York. His parents were Herbert Melville Alcorn (1908–1992) and Mabel A. Comotto (1912–1996), who married on April 14, 1934 in Corona. Alcorn’s middle name was the first name of his paternal grandfather.

The 1940 United States Census counted Alcorn, his parents and maternal grandmother, Mary Comotto, in Corona at 35-14 98th Street. Alcorn’s father was a statistician with an insurance company. Alcorn’s father signed his World War II draft draft on October 16, 1940. His Corona address was the same. He was employed by the New York Life Insurance Company. Two years later, he enlisted in the National Guard on October 13, 1942. His address was 84 Lakeville Road in Great Neck, New York.
 
In the 1950 census, fifteen-year-old Alcorn, his parents, two brothers, Richard and Robert, and grandmother resided in North Hempstead, New York at 84 Bates Road. Alcorn was a student at Great Neck North High School where he was on the soccer team.

Alcorn in front row, second from left; 1951 Arista yearbook

Alcorn continued his education at Cooper Union. Illustrators of Children’s Books, 1957–1966 said his instructors included Philip Grushkin, George Salter and Jerome Kuhl. Alcorn was on the art staff of the 1954–1955 Cable yearbook which said
Beneath John’s quiet and clean cut exterior breathes a creative spirit. He is lasting proof that a lad with a Coca-Cola facade can be more than a stereotyped artist. His designs as well as his personality contain a freshness and exuberance that have won him Phyllis as well as a good future.

Alcorn graduated in 1955. According to the Daily Times (Mamaroneck, New York), January 30, 1992, Alcorn married Phyllis Crescenzi on June 25, 1955 in New York City where three sons, Thomas, John and Stephen, were born; the fourth, Kenneth, in New York state. The newspaper said
... Mr. Alcorn was a member of the Push Pin Studio in Manhattan from 1955 to 1956. From 1957 to 1962, he was art director with CBS radio and television. ...

... He lived in New York City from 1955 to 1958, in Dobbs Ferry from 1958 to 1961, in Ossining from 1961 to 1971, in Florence, Italy, from 1971 to 1977 and in Cold Spring from 1977 to 1983, when he moved to Lyme, Conn[ecticut].
American Artist, September 1958, “The Push Pin Studios”
 
Books! (1962)

Wood (circa 1964)
 
Writing! (1964)

The 44th Annual of Advertising & Editorial Art & Design (1965)

A Letter to Anywhere (1965)
 
 
Citizen Register (Ossining, New York), April 15, 1967
 
Art Direction, October 1967

The Citizen Register, February 10, 1970, reported Alcorn’s medal from the Cooper Union Alumni Association.


Jerome Snyder profiled Alcorn for the graphic design publication, Graphis, number 153, 1971.

 
Wood 2 (circa 1970)

It’s Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty and
Other Tragedies of Married Life (1970)

People & Other Aggravations (1971
 
People & Other Aggravations (1972)
 
How Did I Get to Be 40 & Other Atrocities (1976)
 
Love & Guilt & The Meaning of Life, Etc. (1979)
 
Alcorn’s love stamp was reported in The Day (New London, Connecticut), January 15, 1987.


Alcorn passed away on January 27, 1992. An obituary appeared in The Day, January 29.
John Alcorn
Lyme—John Earle Alcorn, 56, of 243 Hamburg Cove, died Monday at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London.

He was born Feb. 10, 1935, in New York City, the son of Herbert and Mabel Comotto Alcorn of Essex.

Mr. Alcorn was a self-employed graphic artist.

He married the former Phyllis Crescenzi in 1955 in New York.

Besides his parents and his wife, he is survived by three sons, John H. Alcorn of Palermo, Italy, Stephen J. Alcorn of Cambridge, N.Y., and Kenneth E. Alcorn of Greenwich; two brothers, Richard Alcorn of New York City and Robert Alcorn of Wading River, Long Island, N.Y.; and four grandchildren.

He was predeceased by one son, Thomas J. Alcorn.

The funeral service and burial will be private. There are no calling hours.

Byles Memorial Home, 99 Huntington St., New London, is in charge of arrangements.

Donations in his memory may be directed to a charity of the donor’s choice.
Reports of his passing appeared in The New York Times, February 2, 1992 and The Hartford Courant, February 3, 1992.


 
 
Further Reading and Viewing
The Alcorn Studio & Gallery
John Alcorn: Evolution by Design, website and book
The Cooper Union Alumni Association
The Cooper Union, Coopermade: Fellini Film Titles
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Monday, April 22, 2024

Comics: Corinne Boyd Dillon, Illustrator

Corinne Boyd Dillon was born on January 23, 1885, in Louisville, Kentucky according to her Social Security application at Ancestry.com. She was the only child of Michael Edward Dillon and Loula Rees, both Irish immigrants. In the 1880 United States Census, the couple were Louisville residents at 205 Third Street. Dillon’s father was in the dry goods business. 

Young Wings was a book club publication for young adults. The August 1949 issue published a profile of Dillon who said in part
I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, where my ancestors migrated soon after Daniel Boone opened the way. My parents left Kentucky when I was still a child, and we spent some years in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York, which finally became our home. Here I studied art under the famous C. V. Sanborn. My work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, and books. 
The 1900 census counted Dillon and her mother in Manhattan, New York City at 33 West 65th Street. Dillon was an art student. 


The 45th Cooper Union Annual Report, May 28, 1904, listed the recipients of diplomas and prizes. In the Woman’s Art School, Dillon received the silver medal in Drawing for Illustration. On May 29, 1904, the New York Herald and New York Tribune reported the commencement of Cooper Union. The school’s president presented the prizes and diplomas. Dillon received a silver medal. A profile of Dillon appeared in the Denver Post, July 31, 1904. 


Dillon was featured in Broadway Magazine, September 1904, “The Girl Art Student in New York”. 

In the 1905 New York state census, Dillon and her parents were residents of the Bronx at 688 East 138th Street. Dillon was an artist. 


On October 19, 1909, Dillon returned to New York from London. 

The 1910 census counted Dillon and her parents in Manhattan at 2 West 101st Street. Dillon was an artist in the theatre trade. 


Some of her early work appeared in The Graphic, July 9, 1910; The Housewife, November 1910; Woman’s Home Companion, January 1912, November 1912 and October 1913; and The Designer, February 1914. 

Dillon’s father passed away on May 14, 1913. Almost a year later, her mother passed away on March 1, 1914. Both were laid to rest at Owenton IOOF Cemetery. 

In Young Wings, Dillon said 
At the end of World War I, my husband and I went to France, living there for four years. In Paris I bought Poilu, an Alsatian shepherd dog. He was a real person with a keen sense of fun. He lived to be over thirteen years old.

Another pet which lived to great age was my canary. He would fly to the top of my head whenever he was let out of the cage. He scorned the small bird bath, plainly showing his preference for a soup plate, where he could get a thorough drenching. That done, he would flutter up to my shoulder, and there he would shudder, shake his wings, preen, and perk until quite dry. If I turned to look at him while he was making his toilet, he would give me a peck on the cheek, as if to say, “Privacy, please.” 
Her marriage was mentioned in The Story of Martha Washington (1954). Apparently Dillon married Ernest Eugene Adt before his signed his World War I draft card on June 5, 1917. Adt was a fashion artist who worked for the Butterick Company. The couple lived in Manhattan at 127 West 82nd Street. The date and place of their marriage is not known. 


On August 8, 1919, Dillon and Adt applied for a passport. Their application was accompanied by a letter from Butterick confirming their assignment. Dillon stated her birth year as 1890 instead of 1885. 




A passenger list recorded the October 2, 1919 arrival in Liverpool, England. Dillon’s first name was listed erroneously as Connie.


On February 8, 1922, Dillon was aboard the steamship Aquitania when it arrived in the Port of New York from Southampton. The passenger list said her address was Plainfield, New Jersey. 

Dillon has not been found in the 1925 New York state census. 

Her career was primarily in magazine illustration. Dillon’s clients included Cosmopolitan here and here; The Ladies’ Home Journal; McClure’s;  Parents’ Magazine here  and here; Photoplay; The Saturday Evening Post; Smart Set; and This Week. 

Dillon’s book jacket for May Fair: The Ace of Cads and Other Stories published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1925. 


The Eastern Edition of Advertising Arts and Crafts, Volume II (1926) listed Dillon at 1060 Park Avenue. She also had an advertisement.
 
 
The 1927 edition featured a full-page illustration on page 419 and the same address. 

In 1927, Dillon illustrated at least three Feen-a-mint advertisements: “Beauty Is Health’s Reward” aka “Beauty—the Reward of Health”, “Grandmother Is Still Dancing”, and “Opportunity Never Knocks at a Sickroom Door”. 


The 1930 census recorded Dillon in Manhattan at 170 East 78th Street. She was a self-employed artist and single. Her former husband was a furniture salesman.


The New York Evening Post, June 16, 1931, published a photograph of Dillon. 


The Buffalo Evening News, August 25, 1933, published O.O. McIntyre’s column, New York Day by Day, who wrote “… Corrine [sic] Boyd Dillon, the artist, and her dog. …”

The New York Sun, October 6, 1932, reported leases in various neighborhoods: “Bing & Bing, Inc., leased apartments in ... 299 West Twelfth street to ... Corine [sic] Boyd Dillon …”


The article mentioned 2 Horatio Street which would be in Dillon’s future. 

On June 3, 1937, Dillon returned from Bermuda. Her address on the passenger list was 299 West 12th Street, New York City. The New York Times, June 19, 1937, said Dillon signed a lease for 2 Horatio Street. 

Dillon has not been found in the 1940 census. 

The Board of Elections in the City of New York, List of Enrolled Voters for the Year 1941–1942, Borough of Manhattan, December 31, 1941, listed Dillon at 2 Horatio Street. 

In the 1940s, Dillon contributed to comic books published by Parents’ Magazine Press. 

Real Heroes #6, September 1942, The Blind Man Who Saw
Calling All Girls #19, June-July 1943, The Traipsin Woman
Calling All Girls #22, October 1943, She Traveled the Underground
Calling All Girls #23, November 1943, Trouping with the Troops
Calling All Girls #25, January 1944, All’s Well That Ends Well
Calling All Girls #27, March 1944, Backstage with the Rockettes
Calling All Girls #31, July-August 1944, Allies in the Pines
Calling All Girls #32, September 1944, Underwater Wave
Calling All Girls #36, January-February 1945, Boast of Brazil
Calling All Girls #37, March 1945, Double Exposure Mystery
Calling All Girls #40, June-July 1945, Gap in the Wall
True Comics #45, Fall 1945, Delaying Action
Polly Pigtails #7, August 1946, Country Courage
Sweet Sixteen #8, August 1947, The Poor Fish

Dillon’s former husband passed away in 1947. 

Dillon was at the same address in the 1950 census. She was a portrait artist who also illustrated several books including Hi, Barney!, Kentucky Derby Winner, The Story of Florence Nightingale, The Bible Story, Volume 3 here and here, and Friends Near and Far: Pupil’s Book. 


Dillon passed away on July 29, 1965, in Manhattan, New York City. She was laid to rest with her parents. 


Further Reading
The Gilded Times, Nine Cities, Nine Styles: A Fashion Designer’s Travel Log Dated 1926 


Women in Comics Posts









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Monday, January 22, 2024

Creator: Miriam Woods, Lettering Artist and Book Jacket Designer

Miriam Woods was born on May 10, 1918, in Northampton, Massachusetts, according to her New York, New York marriage license application. Her parents were Charles Woods and Helen O’Shea. 

The Woods family has not yet been found in the 1920 United States Census.

In the 1930 census, lines 67 to 72, Woods was the oldest of four siblings. The family resided in Northampton at 12 Bedford Terrace. Her Irish father was a designer in the gift shop trade.


The Springfield Republican (Massachusetts), January 14, 1940, said Woods “graduated from Northampton high school in 1935 and Mary A. Burnham School for Girls in 1936 ...”

Around 1937, Woods moved to New York City. According to the 1940 census, lines 52 and 53, Woods lived her aunt, Agnes O’Shea, in Manhattan at 69 Tieman Place. 


Woods studied at Cooper Union under George Salter. She graduated in 1940. Woods also studied at Columbia University. 


Springfield Republican, June 3, 1940

On August 8, 1940, Woods and Robert L. Cheney obtained, in Manhattan, marriage license number 12395. They married on August 10. 


On October 16, 1940, Woods’ husband signed his World War II draft card. They lived in Manhattan at 55 Morton Street. He worked at the Rumford Press. 


The 1940s were busy for Salter. With many of his younger peers in uniform, he often had more commissions than an artist of even his diligence and energy could handle. At times, with permission from the appropriate art directors, he subcontracted jobs to Miriam Woods, his personal assistant, with the clear understanding that her work would always bear her signature.
Bookbinding & Book Production, February 1942, published a photograph of Woods, Salter, Oscar Ogg, Riki Levinson, and Edgar Cirlin. 

In July 1942, Salter became Woods’ uncle when he married Agnes O’Shea.

The Inland Printer published Paul Standard’s “Calligraphy’s Flowering, Decay & Restoration” in its October and November 1944 issues. Woods was mentioned in both. 

Woods’ husband was profiled in American Notes & Queries, May 1947. 
The Gopher Hole Press (72 Barrow Street, New York 14, N.Y.) is under the direction of Robert L. Cheney, printer and typographer. It came into existence in February 1942, with the purchase of a hand-feed Chandler & Price platen press (12 x 18) ... Between major jobs and his own work at Harper & Brothers, Cheney gets a miscellany of assignments typographic book jackets and binding designs. His own work is often supplemented by that of Mrs. Cheney (Miriam Woods), a book jacket designer and calligrapher. 
Publishers Weekly, July 2, 1949, featured the graphic arts work at Cooper Union. Projects by current students was shown. The article also named several alumni: 
Ashley Bryan, illustrator; Donald Burgess, illustrator; Edgard Cirlin, illustrator, book designer, jacket designer; Erica Gorecki Egan, illustrator; Sam Fisher, jacket designer; Betty Karpoff, illustrator; Anne Pracny Kirby, illustrator; Riki Levinson, jacket designer; Meyer Miller, typographer, book designer; Ava Morgan, jacket designer; David Soshensky, jacket designer; Richard Stinely, jacket and book designer; Jean-Yee Wong, illustrator, calligrapher; Miriam Woods, jacket designer.
Three months later, Publishers Weekly, October 15, 1949, reported the Cooper Union alumni exhibit of book designs. 
Fifteen of the younger alumni of Cooper Union Art School, New York, are represented by books, jackets and illustrations in an exhibition called “Contemporary Book Design,” which is being held at Cooper Union Museum, October 10–31, in connection with the school’s 90th anniversary. Designers represented include Jeanyee Wong, Erica Gorecka-Egan, Philip Grushkin, Meyer Miller, Edgard Cirlin, Miriam Woods, Ashley Bryant, David Soshensky, Anne Pracny, Riki Levinson, Donald Burgess, Richard Stinely, Elizabeth Alden Karpoff and Marvin Blick. ...
The 1950 census counted Woods, her husband and son, Douglas (lines 13 to 15), in Manhattan at 72 Barrows Street. Woods was a self-employed book designer for book publishers. 


Bookbinding & Book Production, September 1950, profiled Woods’ husband who was art director at Harper and Brothers. The last paragraph said 
Mrs. Cheney is also active in the graphic arts, being engaged in calligraphy and book jacket designing as a free lance under the name of Miriam Woods. She was graduated from Cooper Union after studying under George Salter.
Bookbinding & Book Production, December 1950, described Woods’ contributions to The Columbia Encyclopedia, Second Edition. 

Bookbinding & Book Production, April 1951, published the list of the American Institute of Graphic Arts’ “Fifty Books of the Year 1950”. Woods’ and her husband were represented in the exhibition. They were designers of the Harper & Brothers book, Toward Daybreak. Woods’ jacket for The Columbia Encyclopedia was noted. 

Miss Miriam Woods Long Hill Rd., Briarcliff Manor, N. Y. BRiarcliff 6-1745 Calligraphy, jacket designs
When Woods’ marriage ended in divorce, she remarried to Richard Curran in 1961.

The 1979 Magazine Industry Market Place had this listing
Miriam Woods 20 Waterside Plaza. Apt 13A, New York 10010 Tel: 212-685-5039 
Woods was mentioned several times in Paperbacks, U.S.A.: A Graphic History, 1939–1959 (1981). 

Woods passed away on October 3, 1983. The New York Times, November 2, 1983, said 
Miriam Woods Curran, who created book jackets for Harper & Row and other major publishers for more than 30 years, died of cancer last Wednesday at her home in Manhattan.

She was 65 years old.

Mrs. Curran was vice president of the board of the Bellevue Hospital Auxiliary and chairman of the patients’ library committee.

She is survived by her husband, Richard; two sons by a previous marriage, Douglas Cheney of Atlanta and Peter Cheney of Roanoke, Va., and a brother, Charles Woods 3d of Grafton, Wis.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, Massachusetts), November 4, 1983, said 
New York, NY.—Miriam Woods Curran, 65, of 20 Waterside Plaza, a native of Northampton, died October 3 of cancer in New York. 

Born May 10, 1918 she was the daughter of the late Charles and Helen Woods. She graduated from the Cooper Union School of Art in New York in 1940. 

Working as a letterer and calligrapher under the professional name of Miriam Woods she created book jackets for Harper & Row and other book publishers including the cover for the Columbia Encyclopedia. She also designed books for Behrman House Inc. 

She was a vice president of the Bellevue Hospital Auxiliary Board and chairman of the patient’s library committee. 

She is survived by her husband Richard Curran also a native of Northampton; two sons Douglas Cheney of Atlanta, Ga. and Peter Cheney of Roanoke, Va.; a brother Charles Woods III of Grafton, Wis.; and an aunt. 

A memorial exhibition of her work will be held at a time to be announced. Contributions may be made in her memory to the Bellevue Hospital Auxiliary. 

A Selection of Book Jacket, Cover and Map Designs
Most images were found at the Internet Archive.

1940s







1950s





















1960s





















1970s










Further Reading and Viewing
Columbia University Press, 1893–1983, page 74
Print, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Book Jacket Designers




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