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''''Frank J. Dillon''' (1866-1954) was an artist and stained-glass designer who exhibited widely through the Harmon Foundations traveling show of Black artists. unt Holly, NJ. He exhibited widely with the [[William E. Harmon Foundation|Harmon Foundation]] and its traveling show of Black artists in the late 1920s through the 1930s. He won an Honorable Mention in 1929. Dillon's medium was oils and watercolors, and he produced still lifes, portraits and landscapes.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-09-05|title=Paintings and Other Works of Art by Mr. Frank J. Dillon|url=https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1008&context=ajc_prog|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-05|website=Howard University Digital}}</ref> == Early life and education == Dillon was born in Mount Holly, NJ, in 1867.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=1910|title=Frank J. Dillon|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKT7-4T4|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-05|website=U.S. Census}}</ref> He attended Saint Augustine Normal School and Collegiate Institute from 1883 to 1887 and [[Oberlin College]] in Ohio from 1887 to 1889. He took art classes at the [[Art Students League of New York|Art Students League]] and the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (now the [[University of the Arts (Philadelphia)|University of the Arts]]).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Reynolds|first=Gary A.|title=Against the Odds: African American Artists and the Harmon Foundation|last2=Wright|first2=Beryl J.|publisher=The Newark Museum|year=1989}}</ref> He worked as a draftsman and designer at the Hirst Smyrna Rug Manufacturing Company in Vineland, NJ.<ref name=":0" /> == Career as painter == Dillon made his living as a stained-glass designer and painted in his spare time. His work as a fine artist and stained-glass designer was noted by newspapers at several stops of the Harmon Foundation's traveling exhibit of Black artists. In his seminal book ''Modern Negro Art,'' art historian [[James A. Porter]] noted Dillon's rank among Black artists. “Other Negro artists deserving attention is the veteran painter Frank J. Dillon who also has designed and executed stained glass windows.”<ref>{{Cite book|last=Porter|first=James A.|title=Modern Negro Art|publisher=Arno Press and the New York Times|year=1969}}</ref> In 1895, two of Dillon’s watercolors and a portrait study were shown in the Negro Building at the [[Cotton States and International Exposition]] in Atlanta. In an article, the Pittsburgh Daily Post identified him as a designer for one of the largest stained-glass companies in the country. The newspaper noted that he had "contributed two watercolors of a fair degree of excellence and a portrait study in oils that is even more worthy of praise."<ref name=":4" /> Dillon is mentioned along with painter [[Henry Ossawa Tanner|Henry O. Tanner]] and sculptor [[Edmonia Lewis]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|date=1895-12-06|title=Forward March of the Negroes|work=Pittsburgh Daily Post|agency=via newspapers.com.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/86485501/?terms=%22frank%20j.%20dillon%22%20artist%20&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> By the late 1920s, when the Harmon Foundation began its competition and shows, Dillon was much older than the other Black artists who competed for monetary prizes. When the show traveled to Indianapolis in 1930, the local newspaper noted his age of 63 as an artist with two oils and a watercolor in the show.”<ref>{{Cite news|date=1930-04-27|title=Artwork of American Negroes on Display at Colored Y.M.C.A.|work=The Indianapolis Star|agency=via newspapers.com.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/104991667/?terms=%22frank%20dillon%22%20and%20stained%20glass&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> He competed in the Harmon competition for the first time in 1929, garnering an Honorable Mention.<ref name=":0" /> Five of his paintings are listed in the catalog: ''Still Life,'' ''Still Life,'' ''Christ Blessing the Little Children, Landscape'' and ''Tulip.''<ref name=":0" /> which were part of the New York opening and the traveling exhbits''.'' That May, three of the works - ''Still Life,'' ''Still Life'' and ''Christ Blessing the Little Children -'' were in a [[Smithsonian Institution]] exhibit titled ''Paintings and Sculptures by American Negro Artists'' at the [[National Gallery of Art|National Gallery of Ar]]<nowiki/>t.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1929-05-16|title=Paintings and Sculptures by American Negro Artists|url=https://siarchives.si.edu/catalogue-exhibition-paintings-and-sculpture-american-negro-artists-national-gallery-art-1929|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-05|website=Smithsonian Institution Archives}}</ref> Dillon's works and his name were often mentioned in newspapers alongside some of the better-known artists at that time, many like him who were working other jobs to make a living.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Eleazer|first=R.B.|date=1929-05-05|title=Y.W.C.A. Shows Paintings By Negro Artists This Week|work=The Atlanta Constitution|agency=via newspapers.com.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/398157112/?terms=%22frank%20j.%20dillon%22%20artist&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> During the New York opening, his works caught the attention of several people who were ready to purchase. <ref>{{Cite news|date=1929-02-09|title=Negro Artists' Works to be Traveling Exhibit|work=The New York Age|agency=via newspapers.com.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/40788761/?terms=harmon%20foundation%20and%20frank%20dillon&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> In Louisville, KY, one of his still lifes was singled out again in 1929: “The Still Life of Frank J. Dillon shows the influence of practice with stained glass and the big blue dish has the quality more of an enamel. His ‘Christ Blessing Little Children’ reminds somewhat of the less stormy windows by Kent in the English churches.”<ref>{{Cite news|last=Strode-Jackson|first=Arnold|date=1929-04-14|title=Art Notes (column)|work=The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)|agency=via newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/107685451/?terms=%22frank%20j.%20dillon%22%20artist&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> Dillon entered the Harmon competition again in 1933.<ref name=":0" /> The works ''Landscape'' and ''Tulips'' were in the catalog.<ref name=":0" /> He was in the foundation’s traveling show across the United States through 1938. Most recently, Dillon's works were shown at the Hampton University Museum in Virginia in a 1987 exhibit of works from its permanent collection. The exhibit was titled “Returning Home to Hampton.”<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|date=1987-09-30|title=Art Exhibit at Hampton University|work=New Journal and Guide (Norfok, VA)|agency=via proquest.com.|url=https://www.proquest.com/hnpblacknewscoll/docview/569420656/D1E2693873664CDCPQ/45?|access-date=2021-12-08}}</ref> == Exhibitions == * "Exhibitions of Productions by Negro Artists, presented by the Harmon Foundation," New York, 1933.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Exhibition of Productions By Negro Artists|publisher=Harmon Foundation|year=1933}}</ref> *135^th Street Branch of the New York Public Library, New York, 1933.<ref name=":0" /> *New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 1935.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1935-03-31|title=Negro Artists Display Work at N.J. Museum|work=The Central New Jersey Home News|agency=via newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/314567607/?terms=%22frank%20dillon%22%20and%20%22harmon%20foundation%22&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1935-04-25|title=N.J. Exhibit of Negro Art is Highy Lauded|work=Philadelphia Tribune|agency=via proquest.com.|url=https://www.proquest.com/hnpblacknewscoll/docview/531367785/E9A6172413D4407CPQ/3?|access-date=2021-12-08}}</ref> *Harmon Foundation College Art Association, 1934-35.<ref name=":0" /> *Negro Hall, Texas Centennial Exposition, Dallas, "Still Life," 1936.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1936-06-19|title=Exhibition of Fine Arts Productions by American Negroes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zK1NAQAAMAAJ&pg=PT238&lpg=PT238&dq=Hall+of+Negro+Life,++Texas+Centennial+Exposition+Samuel+Brown&source=bl&ots=LGhtOpLzue&sig=ACfU3U362dhs1AlFC8KoYKtRXKHC4KG2_w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi6ibu23bn0AhV7RTABHe6DAykQ6AF6BAgaEAM#v=onepage&q=Hall%20of%20Negro%20Life%2C%20%20Texas%20Centennial%20Exposition%20Samuel%20Brown&f=false|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-05|website=Google Books}}</ref> *Atlanta University Library, 1936.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1936-12-05|title=Works of Race Artists Seen at Atlanta U.|work=Chicago Defender|agency=via proquest.com.|url=https://www.proquest.com/hnpblacknewscoll/docview/492503491/E9A6172413D4407CPQ/2?|access-date=2021-12-08}}</ref> *Wednesday Art Club, Spokane, WA, 1936.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1936-03-31|title=Art Lovers See Negroes' Display|work=Spokane Chronicle|agency=via newspapers.com.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/562612964/?terms=%22frank%20dillon%22%20and%20%22harmon%20foundation%22&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> *Dillard University, New Orleans, 1938.<ref name=":0" /> *Miami University in Oxford, OH, 1937-38.<ref name=":0" /> *Library of Congress, 1930-31.<ref name=":0" /> *Junior League, Elmira, NY, still life, 1941.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1941-03-06|title=At Elmira, Opening of Negro Artists' Works|work=Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY)|agency=via newspapers.com.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/276366306/?terms=%22frank%20dillon%22%20and%20%22harmon%20foundation%22&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> *Dillard University, New Orleans, 1941.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cederholm|first=Theresa|title=Afro-American Artists: A Bio-bibliographic Directory|publisher=Trustees of the Boston Public Library|year=1973}}</ref> *St. Joseph (MO) YWCA, "Apple Blossoms," 1942.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1942-03-01|title=Negroes Art Work Shown|work=St. Joseph News Press (MO)|agency=via newspapers.com.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/559033166/?terms=%22frank%20dillon%22%20and%20%22harmon%20foundation%22&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> *Montclair Art Museum. New Jersey, 1946.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1946-02-07|title=All-Negro Show at Art Museum|work=The Montclair Times|agency=via newspapers.com.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/515778644/?terms=frank%20dillon%20montclair%20art%20museum|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> *Hampton University Museum, 1987.<ref name=":5" /> == Career as stained glass designer == As early as 1895, Dillon was identified as a stained-glass designer and continued to be noted as such in local newspapers. He designed for Marcus Glass Works and Oesterle Glass Works in Philadelphia.<ref name=":0" /> His most public design is a stained-glass window in the chapel at [[St. Augustine's University (North Carolina)|St. Augustine’s University]], the current name of his alma mater. The design was commissioned by activist and teacher [[Anna J. Cooper|Anna Julia Cooper]] in 1931 to honor her late husband the Rev. George A.C. Cooper. He had been ordained a minister by the Episcopal Church in North Carolina in 1876. He died in 1879.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=1931-03-01|title=Memorial Window|url=https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2015236586/1931-03-01/ed-1/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-05|website=Digital North Carolina}}</ref> The painting shows Simon of Cyrene assisting Jesus in carrying the cross. Both Dillon and Cooper were associated with St. Augustine’s and Oberlin College. Their connection was mentioned in a1940 newspaper article pertaining to his work in an exhibit.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1940-02-08|title=Library Notes|work=The Madison Eagle (New Jersey)|agency=via newspapers.com.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/244356635/?terms=anna%20j.%20cooper%20st.%20augustine&|access-date=2021-12-05}}</ref> He was a “well-known Negro painter of Mt. Holly … said to be the only colored person so advanced in the art of stained glass designing as to make it a full-time profession. While a student of Dr. Anna J. Cooper at St. Augustine Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, he was encouraged to pioneer in this field. Several of his windows may be seen at [[Frelinghuysen University]] in Washington, D.C.“ The university no longer exists. At the time, Dillon had been working for Oesterle for 10 years. <ref name=":2" /> He created a stained-glass window circa 1910 that was shown in a watercolor he painted of a room inside his home. <ref>{{Cite book|title=Philadelphia African Americans: Color, Class & Style 1840-1940|publisher=The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies|year=1988}}</ref> == Personal life == Dillon and his wife Leontine were the parents of five children.<ref name=":3" /> == References == * * * * <references /> [[Category:1866 births]] [[Category:1954 deaths]]'