"William A.Harper"{December 27,1873-1907}

Moved as as a boy from his native Cayuga,in Ontario,Canada,to Illinois,living in Petersburg and Jacksonville before arriving in Chicago.As an African American with limited opportunities for employment,he took a job as a janitor at the Art Institute of Chicago.As an African American with limited opportunities for employment,he took a job as a janitor at the Art Institute of Chicago while saving money in order to study at its school.He enrolled in 1895 and graduated with honors in 1901.Early that year,the Art Student's League annual show at the Art Institute included three landscapes by William that were "said to be among the most perfect on exhibition," according to a Chicago newspaper reviewer.He went to Houston to teach drawing.While there,he was represented in the 1902,annul exhibition of the Chicago Society of Artists