Founding in 1914 The Society of Illustrators was founded on February 1, 1901, by a group of nine artists and one advising businessman. The advising businessman was Henry S. Fleming, a
coal dealer who offered his legal staff to the Society in an advisory role and also served as the Society of Illustrators Secretary and Treasurer for many years. The nine artists who, with Fleming, founded the Society were
Otto Henry Bacher,
Frank Vincent DuMond, Henry Hutt, Albert Wenzell,
Albert Sterner,
Benjamin West Clinedinst,
F. C. Yohn,
Louis Loeb, and
Reginald Birch. The mission statement was "to promote generally the art of illustration and to hold exhibitions from time to time". Women first became part of the organization in 1903, when
Elizabeth Shippen Green and
Florence Scovel Shinn were named Associate Members; but women were prohibited from full membership until 1922.
World War I 's 1917 poster used to recruit soldiers for both
World War I and
World War II; Flagg used a modified version of his own face for
Uncle Sam, and war veteran Walter Botts provided the pose. During the
World War I years, with
Charles Dana Gibson as the acting president, Society members worked through the
Committee on Public Information's Division of Pictorial Publicity, creating many original poster designs, including
James M. Flagg's
US Army iconic recruiting poster of
Uncle Sam, and eight Society members, commissioned Captains in the Engineers, were sent to France to sketch the war.
Between the wars In 1920, the society was incorporated, and in 1922 women were allowed to become full members. In 1939, those funds allowed the Society to acquire its present headquarters, at 128 East 63rd Street.
World War II During
World War II, the society again contributed to the war effort with a massive campaign of posters. Society members visited veterans’ hospitals to sketch the wounded, and an ensemble by the same name plays at Society events up until the present.
Post-World War II In 1946, a Welfare Fund for indigent artists was established. In 1948, the Joint Ethics Committee, of which The Society is a member developed the first Code of Fair Practice, which still serves today in addressing concerns of artists and
art directors working in the
graphic communications field where abuses and misunderstandings regarding usage rights and ownership of works of illustration and other works of art created for a wide range of
public media. In 1954, the
U.S. Air Force began sending Society of Illustrators members around the world to document the Air Force's activities. This program continues today. Thousands of paintings have been contributed over the years. In 1959, the society hold its first Annual Exhibition, juried by
Bob Peak,
Bradbury Thompson,
Stevan Dohanos, and others. It opened with 350 original works of art and led to the publication of the first
Illustrators Annual. The Society opened its doors to the public in 1981, establishing the Museum of American Illustration, with regular public exhibitions. That year was punctuated with the 9/11 Memorial Exhibition,
Prevailing Human Spirit. The
Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) endowed its assets in August 2012 to the society, which has since subsidized the
MoCCA Festival. Arabelle Liepold took the position in June 2023. The Society of Illustrators maintains an annual of illustration, student scholarship competitions and various awards honoring excellence in the field of illustration. and with the
New York City Board of Education since 1999. == Presidents==