Margaret Nowell Graham

{{Infobox artist

| name = Margaret Nowell Graham

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| birth_name = Margaret Nowell

| birth_date = 1867

| birth_place = Lowell, Massachusetts, US

| death_date = 1942

| death_place = Winston-Salem, North Carolina, US

| resting_place = Salem Cemetery, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|36.091648|-80.239485|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| field = Watercolor painter of flowers and landscapes

| training = Boston Museum School of Fine Art

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Margaret Nowell Graham (1867–1942) was an American artist who painted watercolors of flowers and landscapes. She was the mother of two national political figures Katherine G. Howard, Secretary of the Republican Party and advisor to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John Stephens Graham, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

Early life

Margaret Nowell was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1867 to Charles Foster Nowell and Anna Marie Chase. She studied at the Boston School of the Museum of Fine Arts.{{ cite web | url=http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/search/ArtistKeywords.aspx?searchtype=KEYWORDS&artist=10021204 | title=Margaret Nowell Graham - Quick Facts | publisher=AskArt | accessdate=December 29, 2013 }} She was a member of the Boston Art club and the American Federation of Arts.

Art

Graham made watercolor paintings of landscapes and flowers from Marblehead, Massachusetts, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her specialty was landscape with architectural interest. Her works were recognized in New England and in the South, including first prize in the North Carolina Federation of Women's Club Arts Competitions in 1923, 1924 and 1925.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} Her paintings are at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Wake Forest University, and in private collections.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}

She made a watercolor painting in 1922 of the Reynolda House that was used on notecards and sold at the Reynolda House Museum. It also appeared on the cover of the Fall 2002 edition of the Wake Forest Alumni Magazine.{{ cite news | title=Reynolda House celebrates art discovered through flowers | date=August 22, 1966 | work=The Dispatch | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1734&dat=19960822&id=gO4bAAAAIBAJ&pg=3200,4613091 | accessdate=December 29, 2013 }}{{cite web | url=http://www.wfu.edu/magazine/archive/wfm.2002.09.pdf | title=Wake Forest University Alumni Magazine, Fall 2002 | publisher=Office of Creative Services, Wake Forest University | pages=1, 2 | accessdate=March 20, 2018 }} A 1922 watercolor of the barn appeared on the front page of the Summer 2013 edition of Magnolia magazine, published by the Southern Garden History Society.{{cite journal | url=http://www.southerngardenhistory.org/PDF/Magnolia_Summer2013.pdf | publisher=Southern Garden History Society | title=Magnolia Summer 2013 | journal=Magnolia | volume=XXVI | number=3 | date=Spring 2013 | page=1 | accessdate=December 29, 2013 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230233420/http://www.southerngardenhistory.org/PDF/Magnolia_Summer2013.pdf | archivedate=December 30, 2013 }} Graham was a member of the Southern States Art League.

Personal life

Margaret Nowell married Joseph L. Graham, transportation manager for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

Their children were:{{cite book | author=Katherine G. Howard | title=With My Shoes Off | location=New York | publisher=Vantage Press | year=1977 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/withmyshoesoff00howa/page/1 1–2, 19, 37, 40] | isbn=0533029503 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/withmyshoesoff00howa/page/1 }}

Gregory Nowell Graham (1896-1932)
Katherine Graham (1898-1986), who became the Secretary of the Republican National Committee and Deputy Administrator of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, and married Charles P. Howard (1887–1967) in 1921{{cite web|title=HOWARD, KATHERINE G.: Papers 1917-1974|url=https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/research/finding_aids/pdf/Howard_Katherine_Papers.pdf|website=eisenhower.archives.gov|publisher=DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER LIBRARY|accessdate=26 March 2016}}
Joseph Lewis Graham, Jr (1903-1905)
John Stephens Graham (1905-1976), who became the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Harry S. Truman, and married Elizabeth Foster Breckinridge (1901–2005){{cite web |url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4106-33JUN02.htm |title=Naval Events, June 1941, Part 2 of 2, Sunday 15th – Monday 30th |publisher=Naval History |accessdate=13 December 2011}}

She died on March 31, 1942, and is buried at the Salem Cemetery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.{{citation | title=Margaret Nowell Graham, North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297 | publisher=North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina }} In her honor, there is a Margaret Nowell Graham Art Fund for high school students, managed by the Winston-Salem Foundation with awards to students at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art. In addition, there is a Margaret Nowell Graham Memorial Lecture Fund{{cite web | url=http://couturefashionmag.com/city/boston-isaac-mizrahi | title=Isaac Mizrahi and Iris Apfel in Conversation | accessdate=December 23, 2013 | work=Couture Magazine | location=Franklin TN | year=2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211020622/http://couturefashionmag.com/city/boston-isaac-mizrahi | archive-date=December 11, 2013 | url-status=dead }} at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.{{cite web | url=http://www.pem.org/calendar/event/865-impressionists_on_the_water | title=Impressionists on the Water | publisher=Peabody Essex Museum | accessdate=December 29, 2013 | quote=Join Impressionists on the Water co-curator and art historian Christopher Lloyd for a tour of the paintings, works on paper, models and small craft on view. Made possible by The Margaret Nowell Graham Memorial Lecture Fund.}}

Margaret Nowell Graham

Early life

Art

Personal life

References

Further reading