Early years Fred Ellis was born in
Chicago, Illinois in 1885. He left school after eighth grade to take a job as an office boy for
Frank Lloyd Wright. He worked later in an engraving shop and an ice cream factory before becoming a "trucker" at a
meat factory, transporting prepared meat from refrigerators to railway cars for shipment around the country. Ellis drew extensively for the Communist movement from 1923 onward, contributing material to
The Daily Worker. The Liberator, the
Labor Herald, and other publications. In 1936 he returned to his job at the
Daily Worker and taught at the
American Artists School, a progressive independent art school directed by
Harry Gottlieb whose board included many prominent left wing artists such as
William Gropper as well as photographer
Margaret Bourke-White. Ellis retired in 1955.
Death and legacy Fred Ellis died in 1965. Ellis's papers are held by
Syracuse University in
Syracuse, New York. The material includes more than 250 original cartoons, a sketchbook with more than 200 sketches, letters, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other material. ==Works==