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David Hendrickson (1896- 1973) was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the sixth of 10 children. He attended St. Paul public schools and attended high school while taking night classes at the St. Paul Institute of Art. He enlisted in and served with the 25th regiment of Engineers from 1917- 1919. Afterwards, he earned a diploma at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Toulouse, France. He was married to Margaret Ellen Renshaw in 1923. He lived in San Francisco and later New York where he began his 50-year freelance career with the reputation as an artist specializing in rural, historical, and character subjects. Hendrickson's' work was known for its creativity and accuracy due to his, "painstaking research to all details concerned with any subject he depicted. His use of whimsy, metaphor and allegory in subtle ways added sparkle to all of his work."
The David Hendrickson Papers has been meticulously organized by the widow of Hendrickson, documenting his half-a-century career as a freelance artist, illustrator, and advertiser. The collection contains original magazine, book and advertising illustrations, and copies of published materials in which his work was published, artwork, and personal memorabilia.