Tenth Letter of the Alphabet: 2019

Monday, December 16, 2019

Lettering: Walter H. Everett, Illustrator

Above: Lettering reproduced in Benjamin and Jane Sperry Eisenstat’s article,

“A Forgotten Master: Walter Everett”, from Step-by-Step Graphics, January 1988.

Walter Hunt Everett was born on August 20, 1880, in Haddon, New Jersey, according to the New Jersey, Births and Christenings Index at Ancestry.com. His World War II draft card and Pennsylvania death certificate had the same birth date but the birthplace was recorded as Haddonfield. Everett was born two months after the enumeration of the 1880 U.S. Federal Census which listed the family of eight as residents of Haddon Township, New Jersey. Everett’s parents were George Everett and Jane Thomas, both English emigrants.

Henry Clarence Pitz profiled Everett in The Brandywine Tradition (1969), chapter fourteen, “Four Teaching Disciples”. (This chapter was published in American Artist, January 1969, as “Four Disciples of Howard Pyle”.) Pitz said Everett attended the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art.

The Pennsylvania Museum Museum of Art and School of Industrial of Art’s 23rd Annual Report for 1899 had this entry: “Mrs. George K. Crozer Prize, $20.00.—Offered for the best work in Drawing. Divided between Walter Hunt Everett and Morris Molarsky.” Everett’s prize was also mentioned in the Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania), June 9, 1899.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 11, 1899, published this item:

From New Jersey's Towns
Haddonfield, June 10.—… Walter Everett, of this place, was awarded a prize of $25 for the best drawing at the Philadelphia Manual Training School this week.

Also in 1899 was a summer school exhibition mentioned in Howard Pyle: Imagining an American School of Art (2011). Some of Everett’s schoolmates were mentioned.

The 1899 summer school exhibition, which took place that October, listed eight “prize students of the School of Illustration” in the following order: Sarah S. Stilwell, Philip L. Hoyt, Ellen Bernard Thompson, Emlen McConnell, Clyde O. DeLand, Anna Whelan Betts, Frank Schoonover, and Bertha Corson Day. …

A photograph of most of those students at a picnic is here.

In the 1900 census, Everett was one of four artists, two lumber merchants, a servant and day laborer who boarded with the Twaddell family of seven in Birmingham, Pennsylvania. The artists were Philip L. Hoyt, Stanley M. Arthurs (recorded as “Hanley M. Arthur”) and Frank E. Schoonover (misspelled “Shoonover”).

Everett was also counted with his family in Haddon, New Jersey at 24 Ellis Street. He was the third of six siblings whose father was a compositor.

Everett’s illustration for The Complete Writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Twice-told Tales, Volume 2, was published in 1900.

In 1902 Everett’s work was seen in two collections, Complete Works of Friedrich Schiller in Eight Volumes and The Works of Luise Muhlbach in Eighteen Volumes. Here are links to many of the volumes.

Complete Works of Friedrich Schiller in Eight Volumes
P.F. Collier & Son, 1902
Poems
Early Dramas, Volume 1
Historical Dramas
The History of the Thirty Years’ War in Germany
Essays

The Works of Luise Muhlbach in Eighteen Volumes
Frederick the Great and His Court
Frederick the Great and His Family
Berlin and Sans-Souci or Frederick the Great and His Friends
Old Fritz and the New Era
Joseph II and His Court
Prince Eugene and His Times
Louisa of Prussia and Her Times
Marie Antoinette and Her Son
Napoleon and Blucher
Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia
The Empress Josephine
Queen Hortense
Henry VIII and His Court
The Daughter of an Empress
Andreas Hofer
The Merchant of Berlin
Goethe and Schiller
Mohammed Ali and His House

The publisher, Dodd Mead, commissioned Everett for many books including The Belle of Bowling Green (1904), The Loves of Miss Anne (1904), The Heart of Hope (1905), The Man from Red Keg (1905), The Patriots (1905), Her Son, a Chronicle of Love (1907), Is He Popenjoy? (1907), John Caldigate: Volume 1 (1907), The Belton Estate, Volume 1 and Volume 2, and The Vicar of Bullhampton, Volume 2 (1913)

Everett’s work for other publishers include Gabrielle, Transgressor (1906), Trusia (1906), The Garden of Eden (1909), A Christmas Fantasy (1916), and A Circuit Rider's Widow (1916).

Everett’s art also appeared in the newspapers Evening Star (Washington, DC), January 26, 1908 and September 13, 1908, and New York Tribune, May 3, 1908.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 19, 1902, said Everett was an usher at his sister’s wedding in Haddonfield. One of the bridesmaids was Mary Longenecker.

The June 1905, New Jersey state census recorded Everett with his parents and siblings in Haddonfield at 258 Main Street.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 27, 1905, said Everett was best man at his youngest sister’s wedding in Haddonfield.

On October 26, 1905, Everett married Mary B. Longenecker in Los Angeles, California, according to the California County Marriage Record at Ancestry.com.

According to the 1910 census, Everett, his wife, two-year-old son, Oliver, and mother-in-law were Philadelphia residents at 5911 Green Street. Everett was a self-employed artist.

Everett was listed in the American Art Directory, Volume 7 (1910), “Everett, Walter H., 1520 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa.; h. 258 East Main St., Haddonfield, N.J. (P., I.)”, Volume 10 (1913), “Everett, Walter H., care of Harper & Brothers, New York, NY; h. 258 East Main St., Haddonfield, NJ (P., I.)”, and Volume 16 (1919), “Everett, Walter H., 1520 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa.”

The 35th Annual Report of the Trustees (1911) of the Pennsylvania Museum Museum of Art and School of Industrial reported the change in the illustration course by the Associate Committee of Women.

1910–1911
It is with regret we lose Mrs. Andrade as instructor of this class, which she has conducted with so much capability and earnestness, but it is with great hopes for the future that we welcome Mr. Walter Hunt Everett, one of our former students and mist successful illustrators, who has accepted the position made vacant by Mrs. Andrade’s resignation.

The Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Museum, October 1912, said

The principal change in the Art Department is in the course of illustration. Mr. Walter Hunt Everett, the instructor in charge, will further develop the strictly professional character of the work by practical training which the arranging and fitting up of new quarters has made possible. A large general class room has been prepared (the Associate Committee of Women contributing the funds), and a smaller one for advanced students, who will use it as a private studio, quite as they would in their professional commissions for publishers. The decorative character of the themes and treatment will be emphasized.

A similar statement appeared in The International Studio, October 1912.

Everett was a prolific magazine illustrator. For the Ladies’ Home Journal, he illustrated the series, “Dean Hodges’s New Hero Stories” in the issues for January, February, March, April and May.

Everett produced illustrations for the four-act drama, “The House of Rimmon”, which appeared in the August and September 1908 issues of Scribner’s; here are links to act 1, act 2, act 3, and act 4. Also featured were line drawings by Franklin Booth. Other Scribner’s contributions include March 1909 and May 1916.

Everett illustrated for Harper's Magazine, March 1909; Hearst’s, January 1919, August 1919 and October 1919; Nash’s and Pall Mall Magazine, June 1919 and December 1919; Ladies’ Home Journal, October 1922 and August 1923; and McCall’s, August 1926.

Apparently most of Everett’s commissions came from The Saturday Evening Post from 1904 to 1933.

October 15, 1904: cover
December 31, 1904: interior
March 4, 1905: interior
July 1, 1905: cover and interior
September 2, 1905: interior
October 7, 1905: cover
May 26, 1906: interior
June 2, 1906: interior
June 23, 1906: interior
December 1, 1906: interior
February 16, 1907: interior
March 23, 1907: interior
August 31, 1907: interior
October 12, 1907: interior
September 11, 1909: pirate cover
September 18, 1909: interior
January 22, 1910: cover and interior
January 29, 1910: interior
February 5, 1910: interior
February 12, 1910: interior
February 19, 1910: interior
February 26, 1910: interior
May 7, 1910: interior
June 4, 1910: interior
June 18, 1910: cover and interior
March 18, 1911: interior
February 17, 1912: interior
February 24, 1912: interior
March 2, 1912: interior
March 9, 1912: interior
March 16, 1912: interior
March 23, 1912: interior
March 30, 1912: interior
April 6, 1912: interior
December 18, 1915: interior
August 6, 1916: interior
August 4, 1917: interior
March 30, 1918: interior
February 18, 1933: interior

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, December 15, 1915, Everett was one of two-hundred local artists and craftspeople to exhibit at the first Haddonfield art exhibition.

Everett was listed in the School of Industrial of the Pennsylvania Museum’s Circular of the Art Department 1918–1917.

The Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, September 1918, reported the results of the Fourth Liberty Loan Posters competition.

The Department of Pictorial Publicity at Washington has accepted nine designs of posters for the Fourth Liberty Loan from the works sent in through local committees. The accepted designs were distributed as follows: In New York there were fifty-two competitors, four of whom were successful. In Chicago, out of eleven competitors three were successful. In Philadelphia there were two successful competitors. The works of the following artists were accepted: Everett Young, John W. Norton, J. Allen St. John, of Chicago; John Scott Williams, Walter Whitehead, Fred Strothman, Henry Raleigh, of New York; Joseph Pennell and Walter Hunt Everett, of Philadelphia. The returns suggest that the standard of designs submitted by Chicago artists was exceptionally high.

The New Orleans Item (Louisiana), September 22, 1918, described Everett’s art for the poster.

A strong appeal to the nobler instincts of humanity is contained in Walter H. Everett’s design, the original of which is a fine oil painting of a mother clutching a child to her breast while another clings to her skirt, the mother’s left arm stretched forth in agony of appeal. This poster, lettered “Must children die and mothers plead in vain!” is 30 by 40 inches in size and is lithographed in 10 printings. At the bottom is the exhortation which is repeated in various forms on all the posters, “Buy more Liberty Bonds.” This is one of the most artistic posters that has been issued by the government. One million are being issued.

Everett signed his World War I draft card on September 12, 1918. His address was 600 Cedarcroft Avenue, Audubon, New Jersey. He was described as medium height and build with brown eyes and dark hair.

Il Momento (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), August 30, 1919, said Everett was a member of the Philadelphia Sketch Club which produced a yearbook for 1918. At the time the club had almost two-hundred members.

The International Studio, September 1919 and October 1919, published advertisements for the Spring Garden Institute’s (New) Day Illustration School.

In the 1920 census, Everett made his home in Middletown, Pennsylvania on Fox Road. He was a self-employed magazine illustrator with a wife and son.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 4, 1923, reported the exhibition of Philadelphia illustrators at the Pennsylvania Museum, Fairmount Park. The illustrators were “Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott, Herbert Pullinger, Alice Barber Stevens, N. C. Wyeth, Jessie Willcox Smith, Walter Everett, Ethel Franklin Betts Bain, Thornton Oakley, Henry Pitz and Guernsey Moore.”

The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts), December 24, 1923 said Everett was one of fifty-one pupils of Howard Pyle who submitted work for the Howard Pyle memorial exhibition at the Public Library in Wilmington, Delaware.

In the 1930 census, the Everett family lived in Glenolden, Pennsylvania at 18 Rambler Road. Everett was an artist doing work for magazines.

Everett and his wife made their home in Providence, Virginia on Weber City, according to the 1940 census. His home was valued at two-thousand dollars. In 1935 they resided in Philadelphia. Everett’s highest level of education was the eighth grade.

On April 27, 1942, Everett signed his World War II draft card. He lived in Parkerford, Pennsylvania. His mailing address was Pottstown, RD #1, Pennsylvania. Everett’s description was five feet eight inches, 150 pounds with brown eyes and gray hair.

Everett passed away August 23, 1946, in East Coventry, Chester County, Pennsylvania, according to his death certificate (at Ancestry.com) which said the cause was acute dilation of the heart due to coronary thrombosis. He also had an ulcer. Everett was laid to rest at Haddonfield Baptist Cemetery. The Mercury (Pottstown, Pennsylvania), August 24, 1946, published an obituary.

Further Reading and Viewing
American Gallery
Art and Influence
Heritage Auctions
Illustration Art
JVJ Publishing
Life Needs Art
Today's Inspiration
Walter Everett
World in My Pocket

(Next post on Monday: Season’s Greetings, 1920)