These slides showcase the beautiful illustration artwork of American illustrator Charlotte Harding Brown. This biographical information was composed for an assignment for my MFA in Illustration (with the Academy of Arts University) during the Fall 2017 term. My slides spotlight the amazing talent of this exceptional illustrator, share biographical details about Harding's life, and include personalized commentary inspired by my research findings. And yes, this assignment resulted in an A :) for which I was thrilled. Enjoy!

1. Illustration by
Charlotte Harding Brown
for lead article of The Century
Magazine (November 1901)
“It's a perfect shame.”
1

2. Illustration by
Charlotte Harding Brown
for lead article of The Century
Magazine (November 1901)
"A 'quick change'
. . . for the rest of
the afternoon."
2

3. Charlotte Harding Brown
EARLY LIFE
Born in Newark on August
31, 1873, CHARLOTTE
HARDING BROWN was an
American Illustrator born to
parents Joseph and
Charlotte Elizabeth Harding.
Beginning in 1180, Harding
lived in Philadelphia with her
brother, George Matthew
Harding, who also became
an artist as well.
ART SCHOLAR
Harding was a product of
the Philadelphia School of
Design for Women, and
she also studied with
Howard Pyle, both at
Drexel and at the
Academy of Fine Arts,
from 1897 to 1899.
Source
UpClosed | Charlotte Harding
Sources
Art Bound | The Great Illustrators,
Part II
Schoonover Studios | Pyle
Students
ILLUSTRATION
An accomplished
illustrator, Harding was
hired to illustrate for
magazines and books,
Century, Harper’s,
McClure’s, Collier’s
Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar,
Source
Ask Art | Charlotte Harding
AWARDS
1893-1894 | Philadelphia
School of Design for
Women George W. Childs
Gold Medal
1893-1894 | Philadelphia
School of Design for
Women Horstman
Fellowship
1900 | Woman's Exposition
in London Silver Medal
1915 | St. Louis Exposition
Medal
Source
WikiVisually | Charlotte Harding 3

4. 4

5. Charlotte Harding Brown
1
Illustration from
Century & Harper's
Magazine
1901-07
5

6. 2
A "quick change"--for the rest of the
afternoon, ca. 1901 / Charcoal, wash,
and opaque white on layered paper /
Published in "Our Foolish Virgins" by
Eliot Gregory, Century, November 1901
(14)
Source
American Beauties | Drawings
from the Golden Age of Illustration
6

7. A Charlotte Harding illustration for Alice
Katherine Fallows, “Athletics for College
Girls,” / Century, May 1903 / Charcoal on
paper on illustration board, / Collection of
Brandywine River Museum.
3
Source
Garrett’s Drawing A Day Blog |
Charlotte Harding
7

8. Unusually Talented Illustrator
HARD-WORKING
Harding was a female
illustrator born in an era
where the profession was
highly male dominated.
Her talents, however, won
her growing recognition and
she eventually found herself
one of Howard Pyle students
at Brandywine; an elite art
and illustration school
founded by Pyle that only
took in about 40 students in
its time.
LIMITED INFO
As is the case with female
American Illustrator Maud
Humphrey, there is
extremely limited
information online
available about Harding.
Outside of several
websites citing some of
her works, there’s more
information available about
her male counterparts as
well as her own brother
George Harding, who was
also a Brandywine
student.
SISTERHOOD
It is reported that Harding
became extremely close
with the other female
illustrator students while
studying at Brandywine.
While learning as Pyle’s
pupil, Harding resided with
her women artist peers at
Colsgea, the art studio
created by renowned
Brandywine female artists
Jessie Willcox Smith,
Elizabeth Shippen Green,
Violet Oakley.
SCREW SOCIETY
As one can imagine,
“professional women” of
this time were often
shunned or looked down
up by society at large for
choosing to work or focus
on their careers instead of
marrying and managing a
household.
Harding was one such
female artist who bucked
this type of commentary.
She and her female artist
peers defied society and
went on to become lauded
and highly regarded artists
in American illustration
history.
8

9. 4 & 5
Illustrations from English
folklore book and
legendary character Robin
Hood. Circa 1903.
Source
The Internet Archive | Robin Hood
9

10. 6
Algy, 1905. Illustration for
Helen Hay Whitney, Verses
for Jock and Joan, The
Hyde Collection, Glens
Falls, New York
Source
Wikipedia | Charlotte Harding,
Algy
10

11. 7
Charcoal, wash, and
opaque white on layered
paper / Century & Harper's
Magazine / Circa 1904.
Source
Notasdecine | Charlotte Harding
11

12. My Thoughts On Harding (1 of 2)
Just yesterday, I contacted
a local art studio and signed
up for watercolor classes.
They instantly processed
my tuition, informed me of
the supply list details, and
welcomed me to the class.
A few days prior, I went
online to social network
Nextdoor and posted a
request for an art coach to
help mentor me through
drawing and painting
challenges such as
composition, foreshortening,
and the like. Within 24
hours, I was
referred to a local art
teacher who is the best
friend of some lady’s
daughter. I was put in touch
with the art teacher and am
awaiting to hear next steps
on how we can work
together.
And when I have specific
questions about my
coursework, my professors
are ready at the hand,
providing ongoing support,
direction, and
encouragement.
All the while, I have my own
freelancing practice, which
has been my main source of
full-time income since 2005.
I share all these things
because being a creative
soul who happens to be
female in 2017, I often think,
is so tremendously different
from what Harding and her
Brandywine female peers
had to endure from their
immediate communities as
well as society at large.
Over 140 years later, here I
am with immediate access to
countless of educational
resources, potential mentors,
and ongoing support and
encouragement for my
chosen field and profession.
52,871 days ago, however,
the ease in which I fluidly
manage through my every
day was not as possible, or
as comfortable. Harding and
her female counterparts
were actually looked down
upon by their local folks. The
majority of men and women
of yesteryear did not
12

13. My Thoughts On Harding (2 of 2)
agree with women
postponing or dismissing
marriage. Women
illustrators, like Harding,
were turned away from
renting places to live or
work just because they had
elected to pursue a career
or master a skill in this
case, illustration) in lieu of
marriage.
In present day, I have my
own business and no one
that I know of looks down
upon me while I seek to
improve my art skills and
further my illustration
capabilities. I can dictate
the direction of my life and
my career without my male
and female neighbors
turning their noses up while
I work so hard to earn a
livelihood. And no one that
I’m aware of feels disdain or
disgust to learn I am an
illustration graduate student
working hard to find and
nurture my own sense of
creative style.
I don’t know HOW I would
or could cope trying to
achieve all these things with
the brunt of society at large
working against me and not
being supportive. Even
worse: meddling and
making life more difficult by
preventing me from renting
homes or work spaces and
withholding services offered
freely to males.
Despite these
insurmountable challenges,
Harding and other female
illustrators persevered and
went on to become highly
regarded illustration artists
of their day, and beyond the
totality of their lives as well.
While information on Harding
is fairly scarce, one detail
that keeps coming up on
various online references is
that Harding signed all her
artwork using her maiden
name, even well after she
married married James
Adams Brown, an engineer,
in 1905.
What this tells me is that
Harding was, through and
through, steadfastly proud of
her accomplishments as a
woman. She was a female
artist who refused to conform
no matter what duress came
her way. 13

14. 8
Charcoal, wash, and
opaque white on layered
paper / Century & Harper's
Magazine / Circa 1904.
Source
Notasdecine | Charlotte Harding
14

15. 9
Charcoal, wash, and
opaque white on layered
paper / Century & Harper's
Magazine / Circa 1904.
Source
Notasdecine | Charlotte Harding
15

16. Harding’s Works
● Francis Neilson (1901). Madame Bohemia. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company. LCCN
00006439.
● Margaret Howard Peterson (1901). The Potter and the Clay: A Romance of Today. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. Boston:
Lothrop Publishing Company. LCCN 01031912.
● Eva March Tappan (1903). Robin Hood, his book. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. Boston: Little, Brown & Company. LCCN
03026880.
● Hildegard Brooks (1904). Daughters of Desperation. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. Edinburgh & London: McClure, Philip and
Company. LCCN 04008707.
● Elizabeth Garver Jordan (1904). May Iverson- Her Book. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. New York and London: Harper and
Brothers. LCCN 04029183.
● Helen Hay Whitney (1905). Verses for Jock and Joan. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. New York: Fox, Duffield and Company.
LCCN 05033917.
● Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews (1906). A Good Samaritan. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. New York: McClure, Philip and
Company. LCCN 06035945.
● Helen Hay Whitney (1906). Punch and Judy. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. New York: Duffield. LCCN 07025150.
● Helen Reimensnyder Martin (1907). The Betrothal of Elypholate, and other tales of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Charlotte Harding
and Alice Barber Stephens, illustrators. New York: The Century Company. LCCN 07030437.
● William Dean Howells (1908). Fennel and Rue, a Novel. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. New York and London: Harper &
Brothers. LCCN 08009174.
● Joel Chandler Harris (1909). The Bishop and the Bogie-Man. Charlotte Harding, illustrator. London: Doubleday, Page and
Company. LCCN 09003878.
● Jean Webster (1909). Much Ado about Peter. Charlotte Harding and Harry Linnell, illustrators. London; New York:
Doubleday, Page & Company. LCCN 09007143.
Source
WikiVisually | Charlotte Harding
16

17. 17
10
Charcoal, wash, and
opaque white on layered
paper / Century & Harper's
Magazine / Circa 1904.
Source
Notasdecine | Charlotte Harding

18. 18
Thank you Charlotte Harding
for giving us 30.76% of your 78 years of life
by way of your beautiful illustrations. you
Source
UpClosed | Charlotte Harding

19. About this presentation
This presentation was researched,
designed, and written by
MFA of Illustration graduate student
Mayra Ruiz-McPherson.
Background
Mayra has 20+ years digital marketing,
advertising, creative direction, and
communications experience. As a Sr. Digital
Strategist and independent marketing
consultant. Mayra works with clients, brands,
agencies, and organizations to transform all
aspects of their digital business initiatives.
Academic Journey
Mayra is concurrently pursuing an Illustration
MFA through the Academy of Arts University
as well as a second master’s degree in Media
Psychology via Fielding Graduate University.
Mayra
Ruiz-McPherson
Sr. Digital &
Creative
Strategist

20. Digital Transformation
Search | Social | Mobile
Transmedia Storytelling
Pictorial Strategy
Ideation & Theming
Digital Illustration
Visual Essays
Interface Design
Branding & Identity
703.798.2619 | @TheDStrategist
mayra@ruizmcpherson.com
ruizmcpherson.com