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