Papers of Frances Euphemia Thompson, 1897-1983

Frances Euphemia Thompson wrote that she was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 11, 1896. After the death of her father, Archer, in 1907, her mother, Harriet, raised Thompson and her eight siblings with the help of "Aunt Judy," an elderly friend of the family and a former slave. Thompson attended public elementary schools through the 9th grade, when the family moved across town; she completed her high school education at Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School (Tennessee A&I, now Tennessee State University). She was supported through her early years by a strongly religious home and the guidance and encouragement of Olive Giovanne Taliaferro, a teacher of art education at Tennessee A&I who became her mentor.

Taliaferro, an alumna of the Massachusetts School of Art (now the Massachusetts College of Art), sponsored Thompson's college education there. After graduating in 1923 Thompson returned to Nashville, where she began a career in art and art education at Tennessee A&I that was to span five decades. She served as department director, became professor of art in 1944, and professor emerita in 1974.

In 1936, after she received a B.S. in art education from MCA, she was encouraged to apply for a Rosenwald Fellowship for further study in Europe. In September 1937 she set sail for Sweden, from there traveling through Denmark and Germany to Prague, Czechoslovakia. There she lived in a student dormitory run by the Protestant church, studying art education, visiting museums, and learning the Czech crafts of silversmithing and lacework. Until her fellowship was cut short by German military actions in 1938, she also gave recitals of African American folk songs and spirituals, lectured, and took advantage of opportunities for travel to England and France.

Upon her return to the United States, Thompson resumed her teaching position at Tennessee A&I. After three years she once again became restless, and enrolled as a graduate student at Radcliffe College. She studied education and fine arts, and in 1945 was awarded a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT).

Again returning to Tennessee A&I, Thompson continued to teach a heavy course load in a continually understaffed and underfunded department, devoting her "free time" to committee and club work. She was an organizer of and frequent participant in the "Faculty Breakfast Group," a cooperative effort among faculty at three predominantly African American institutions in Nashville: Meharry Medical College, Fisk University, and Tennessee A&I. The organization hosted lectures and discussions on topics in fields such as religion, education, history, literature, science, and government. She was also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the Gaiete de Coeur Art Club, and the National Art Education Association.

Thompson also worked as a freelance artist. She designed the official seal of Tennessee A&I and the bas-reliefs that were carved into the facades of many of its buildings. She drew cover illustrations for publications, designed certificates for Tennessee A&I and other organizations, and painted murals and oil paintings of landscapes and portraits.

Thompson was also a writer and public speaker. In 1943 she wrote Art in the Elementary Schools: A Manual for Teachers, published by the Tennessee State Department of Education. This work is an early example of Thompson's efforts to publish writings about her ideas on education and religious and secular art. Thompson lectured not only to Tennessee A&I classes and at numerous club gatherings, but also gave speeches on education (especially art education), Christianity, and art at numerous schools in Tennessee and elsewhere. She also gave demonstrations of various art techniques.

After her retirement from the faculty of Tennessee A&I in 1969, Thompson remained in Nashville, maintaining her contact with the school and continuing to lecture, paint, and draw. She died on January 30, 1992.