Archives West Finding Aid

Lynd Kendall Ward, wood engraver, illustrator, and children's book author, was born in Chicago in 1905. He graduated from high school in Englewood, New Jersey, and attended Teacher's College at Columbia University where he majored in fine arts. At Columbia, he met May McNeer and married her in June 1926. They traveled to Europe on their honeymoon and arrived in Leipzig, Germany where Lynd studied wood engraving at the Academy of Graphic Arts under Hans Alexander Mueller. He returned to the United States and embarked upon a career in illustration. In 1929, he published his first wordless novel, Gods' Man, which was the first work of its kind published in the United States. Over the next decade, he printed several more novels featuring his wood engravings. All of them critiqued the greed of the capitalist system and the economic disaster it had imparted upon the world. In 1929, Lynd also illustrated his first children's book, Prince Bantam, which was written by his wife. The outstanding illustrations created by Ward elevated the job of illustration into an art form. During the later years of the Great Depression, Ward served as the Director of the graphic arts division of the Federal Art Project in New York City, but illustration became his primary profession. He illustrated over 100 books during his lifetime, including Newbery Medal winners Johnny Tremain and The Cat who went to Heaven. Lynd Ward's greatest success came in 1952 when he won the Caldecott Medal for the book he wrote and illustrated, The Biggest Bear. Over his career, Lynd won the Zella de Milhau prize, the Library of Congress award for wood engraving, and the silver medallion from University of Southern Mississippi. Ward was respected by his peers. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators and served as President of the Society of American Graphic Design from 1953-1959. Lynd Ward died in 1985 from Alzheimer's disease two days after his 80th birthday