Small-Town America

Norman Rockwell, born February 3, 1894, was meant to be an artist. Before exiting his teenage years, he had already built quite a resume: first commission for a set of Christmas cards, age 16; children’s book illustrator, age 18; art editor for Boys’ Life magazine, age 19. The term “struggling artist” was foreign to Rockwell.  Rockwell tried enlisting in the Navy in 1918 for WWI service. Tall and lanky, he was deemed underweight and was rejected. He “fattened up” on a diet of bananas and doughnuts and was later accepted. His artwork would continue, however. He painted insignias on military aircraft, then was recruited as an illustrator for Afloat and Ashore, the Charleston Naval Yard’s official periodical.  Rockwell completed 4,000+ original works of art in his lifetime. Over 300 of them were covers for the Saturday Evening Post, then one of the country’s most popular publications, from 1916–1963, during which time he became a household name. He also painted advertisements for Coca-Cola, Crest, and Jell-O, among other notable products.

Rockwell’s sentimental images of American life, optimistic outlook, and humor were revered, but he also began addressing hot-button issues in the 1960s, one of which was segregation. Perhaps his most poignant painting was The Problem We All Live With, for LOOK magazine in 1964. The painting featured six-year-old Ruby Bridges, a young Black girl who was escorted by federal marshals to a New Orleans school that had failed to abide by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Rockwell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, just a year prior to his passing. President Gerald Ford said, “… [Rockwell’s] vivid and affectionate portraits of our country and ourselves have become a beloved part of the American tradition.” For Rockwell, focusing on what America could be was its own reward.