“Archival recovery: it’s journalism, but with dead people” 😵☠️🪦🗃️
Elizabeth Colwell (1881–1961) was the only woman listed as an American designer by American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) in 1948. A working artist in Chicago, she was a printmaker, painter, and writer, plus designed Colwell Handletter and Colwell Handletter Italics for American Type Founders in 1916.
Colwell wrote about hand lettering ✍️ for Sketch Book (1904). Her work also appeared The Printing Art (1905) and Inland Printer’s Lettering for Printers & Designers (1906). W.A. Dwiggins commissioned her for issues of Happyland (1914). Colwell was the first woman featured in a profile series focused on designers and illustrators by The Graphic Arts (March 1913), which includes examples of her fine arts and advertising work. She worked for the WPA’s Federal Art Project (1937) and showed at a related Art Institute of Chicago exhibition. The Library of Congress mounted an exhibition of her work in 1945. Then she dropped off the map.
Lauren found out that Colwell did not die in 1954—she just moved out of Chicago, and died in 1961. Besides Lauren’s insights into Colwell’s art, we discuss archival rabbit holes, some favorite capital letters, and exceptionalism narratives.
Special guest: Lauren Elle DeGaine, policy analyst, craft enthusiast, writer of the very comprehensive "A Woman’s Type: Early Women Type Designers in 20th-Century Book History" (MA thesis, University of Victoria (B.C.), 2021), chronically offline
PSA: Patriarchy hurts us all
📚 by Colwell
- “Notes on Hand-Lettering,” Sketch Book (4 parts; Sept–Dec 1904)
- Songs of Tristram & Ysevlt (1907)
- Songs & Sonnets (1909)
- Colwell Handletter: Luc Devroye, Fonts in Use
- See also: AIGA’s ”American Type Designers and Their Work” exhibition (1947); Alex Jay, "Creator: Elizabeth Colwell," Tenth Letter of the Alphabet (2016); Lauren’s thesis pgs 10–25
Credits
Creator and Producer: Bethany Qualls
Editor: Joe DeGrand
Original episode artwork: Trifoxatops aka Jenna Mauro
Social Media Whisperer: Elizabeth Giardina
Music: "Sneaky Feet" by geoffharvey
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