Herbert Temple (1919-2011)

Herbert Temple was born in 1919 in Gary, Indiana, to Herbert Temple and Carey Britt Temple. He grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated from Evanston Township High School before enlisting in the U.S. Army. Temple was a veteran of World War II and used his G.I. Bill benefits after the war to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. "He had been drawing his whole life," Temple's daughter, Janel Temple, remembered, "and he didn't want to go work in the steel mills or slaughterhouses. He envisioned a different future for himself." (1) His first job was at Container Corporation of America, where he designed cartons, containers, and packaging. In February 1953, Chicago publisher John H. Johnson hired Herbert Temple to be an artist on Ebony and Jet magazines. Temple was promoted to art director in 1967 and spent an amazing fifty-four years at the company. He also illustrated record covers and children's books. He and his daughter created JanTemp Greetings, a greeting card company. Herbert Temple lived on the South Side of Chicago and in South Holland, Illinois, and was involved in the South Side Community Arts Center. Herbert Temple died on April 13, 2011, in Hammond, Indiana, at the age of ninety-one.

Note

(1) Quoted in "Herbert Temple, 1919-2011: Longtime Art Director for Ebony and Jet Magazines" by Lolly Bowean, Chicago Tribune online, April 26, 2011.

Ebony, August 1969, with a cover illustration by Herbert Temple.

Text copyright 2014, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

Ted Chambers (1920-2009)

Theodore T. "Ted" Chambers was born on November 21, 1920, in Indiana, probably in Indianapolis. His parents were William S. and Pearl Chambers, both from the South but in Indianapolis by 1920.

Ted Chambers graduated from Crispus Attucks High School, the Indianapolis high school for black students, in 1938. (Oscar Robertson also graduated from Crispus Attucks.) He studied architecture at Howard University, but only for a year and a half. By 1940 he was back in his home city and working as a draftsman.

Chambers joined the U.S. Navy in 1942. While in training in Boston, he became cartoon editor of Tracer, a monthly service magazine. A member of the first graduating class of black midshipmen, he was stationed in China towards the end of the war and was discharged in May 1946 after attaining the rank of lieutenant/junior grade.

Ted Chambers graduated from Tufts University and studied at the Art Students League in New York City. He began selling cartoons to Argosy, Pic, and This Week Magazine in the summer of 1947. He lived and worked as an artist in New York City as late as 1960 and specialized in product illustration. He also lived in Yonkers and Sag Harbor, New York, and in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators.

Ted Chambers, Sr., died on June 16, 2009. His last residence was Sarasota, Florida. He was survived by his wife, son, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Thanks very much to Ted Chambers, Jr., for the information used in this update (April 23, 2014). To Mr. Chambers: I am unable to reply to your comment in the space below, so I will reply here. If you have any artwork by your father that you would like me to post here, please send it along to:

info@hoosiercartoonists.com

I hope you don't mind that I have used the cartoons shown below. Thanks again.

Three magazine gag cartoons by Ted Chambers.

Text copyright 2013, 2024 Terence E. Hanley