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Frances Euphemia Thompson
Frances E. Thompson, (ca 1900- January 30, 1992) was an American artist and educator. Born in Nashville, Tennessee at the turn of the century Thompson completed her high school education at Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State Normal School (now Tennessee State University)). After Tennessee A&I, and with the sponsorship of Olive Giovanne Taliaferro, Thompson was able to attend and continue her education at Massachusetts College of Art. Upon graduation, Thompson returned to her hometown of Nashville beginning a career in art and education at Tennessee A&I that was to span five decades. She served as a department director, became a professor of art in 1944 and professor emerita in 1974.

Post Graduate Studies

In 1936, after receiving her degree from Massachusetts College of Art, she applied for a Rosenwald Fellowship for further study in Europe. In September 1937 she spent time in Sweden, Denmark, Germany and eventually Prague, Czechoslovakia. There she lived in a student dormitory run by the Protestant church, studying art education, visiting museums, and learning the Czech crafts of silversmithing and lacework. Until her fellowship was cut short by German military actions in 1938, she also gave recitals of African American folk songs and spirituals, lectured, and took advantage of opportunities for travel to England and France. After returning to the United States Thompson enrolled as a graduate student at Radcliffe College. She studied education and fine arts, and in 1945 was awarded a Master of Arts in Teaching.

Teaching Career

Returning to her alma mater, Tennessee A&I, FET continued to teach a heavy course load in a continually understaffed and underfunded department, devoting her "free time" to committee and club work. She was an organizer of and frequent participant in the "Faculty Breakfast Group," a cooperative effort among faculty at three predominantly African American institutions in Nashville: Meharry Medical College, Fisk University, and Tennessee A&I. The organization hosted lectures and discussions on topics in fields such as religion, education, history, literature, science, and government. She was also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the Gaiete de Coeur Art Club, and the National Art Education Association. FET also worked as a freelance artist. She designed the official seal of Tennessee A&I and the bas-reliefs that were carved into the facades of many of its buildings. She drew cover illustrations for publications, designed certificates for Tennessee A&I and other organizations, and painted murals and oil paintings of landscapes and portraits.

FET was also a writer and public speaker. In 1943 she wrote Art in the Elementary Schools: A Manual for Teachers, published by the Tennessee State Department of Education. This work is an early example of FET's efforts to publish writings about her ideas on education and religious and secular art. FET lectured not only to Tennessee A&I classes and at numerous club gatherings, but also gave speeches on education (especially art education), Christianity, and art at numerous schools in Tennessee and elsewhere. She also gave demonstrations of various art techniques.

After her retirement from the faculty of Tennessee A&I in 1969, FET remained in Nashville, maintaining her contact with the school and continuing to lecture, paint, and draw. She died on Jan. 30, 1992.