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Gladys O'Rourke Blackwood
Artist Bio:
Gladys O'Rourke Blackwood (1902–1992) was born in Sterling, Illinois. Her artwork appeared under several variations of her name, including Gladys O’Rourke, Gladys Rourke, Gladys Rourke Blackwood, and Gladys C. Rourke-Blackwood. She graduated with honors from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1924 and later continued her studies in Woodstock, New York.
Blackwood met her future husband, Merl Blackwood, while they were students at the Art Institute. They married in 1929, and Merl later became a school art instructor in Freeport, Illinois. During the 1930s, Gladys maintained a studio on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
Born with the use of only one hand, Blackwood developed a successful career as an illustrator and greeting-card designer. She illustrated children’s books, including several by Marguerite Henry, and was known for her pastel portraits of children. Her commercial artwork included a Christmas wrapping-paper design purchased by Marshall Field & Co. She also created two paper doll publications, Grown-Up Paper Dolls for Merrill Publishing Company and Paper Dolls on Parade for Saalfield Publishing Company.
Blackwood also wrote and illustrated Whistle for Cindy, a children's book about a father who invents a pet whistle for his daughter. She died in Freeport, Illinois, on August 3, 1992, at age 90.
Sources: Paper Dolls and Their Artists, Revised Edition by Mary Young (1993); Chicago Tribune, August 8, 1992.
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Selected Titles:
Merrill Publishing Company
Grown-Up Paper Dolls, #3408 (1936)
Saalfield Publishing Company
Paper Dolls on Parade, #2295 (1940), also #268
Reprints of Paper Dolls on Parade:
Modern Paper Dolls, #165
Paper Doll Models, #1515, #1976, and #1993
Paper Dolls We Love, #349
Up to Date, #203
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Clothing page from Paper Dolls on Parade #2295, by Gladys O'Rourke Blackwood