Early life William Woodward was born on May 1, 1859, in
Seekonk, Massachusetts. His younger brother
Ellsworth Woodward also became a notable artist. As a youth, he was accustomed to the rural landscape and the close proximity of family and relatives. His family was supportive of his interest in art, an interest he attributed to an uncle, his mother's brother, who had been killed in the
American Civil War when he was a small child. In his biographical note, he wrote of his Uncle George, "unmarried and seems to be the first in the family to develop art tendencies, producing crayon portraits of family members including one of my mother, which had much to do in causing me to turn to art for a life work." His interest in art intensified after a visit to the
1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition where he and his younger brother saw art exhibitions. Additionally, he chaired the Art Committee of the Artists' Association of New Orleans, and thus spoke with the authority of both positions. Allison Owen, Woodward's former student who continued architectural studies in Boston, supported passage of a city ordinance to establish the Cabildo as a museum. With this successful movement, Woodward's preservationist activities began, as did the preservationist movement in the Vieux Carré. As Woodward, who reportedly "set up on street corners or mid-street," documented the historic quarter, his awareness of historic preservation increased accordingly. His observance of the ambiance of the Quarter is manifest in his earliest works, particularly an 1891
gouache and
watercolor painting, French Quarter Market. His concern for architectural preservation is also evident in the appearance of
Jackson Square in his view of the Cabildo from St. Peter Street. One sees beyond the arches of the loggia into the greenery of the Square, the equestrian statue of
Andrew Jackson, to the lower
Pontalba Building and an outbuilding that no longer exists. Woodward printed the name of the Cabildo in block letters to underscore the historical importance of the structure, a device he used in another image of the Cabildo's gate.
Later career Among his students were the most respected practicing architects of the day: Richard Koch,
Ernest Lee Jahncke, Edgar Stone, and
Emile Weil, as well as Charles Bein, Frederick Duncan "Fritz" Parham, and Alvin Callender, the latter two who assisted Woodward in documenting the features and dimensions of the
St. Louis Hotel while it was being demolished in 1917. Callender, after whom
Alvin A. Callender Air Field was named, was killed in
World War I. Woodward painted the young aviator's portrait posthumously, using photographs and including the airplane in which Callender crashed, with its propeller serving to mark his grave. In his retirement, he continued his preservationist activities. His discovery of a plastic plate, Fiberloid, as a matrix for printmaking suited his soft-focused street scenes. Within five years he executed 115 etchings, which were then printed by his brother, Ellsworth. In 1938, he published French Quarter Etchings, reproducing fifty-four architectural views with annotations regarding history, renovation, and destruction of the structures. Many of his paintings, drawings, and etchings record historic landmarks that were no longer standing at the time of the publication. Another of Woodward's legacies comes through the 1964 posthumous publication of a small guide book, Early Views of the Vieux Carré A Guide to the French Quarter, which illustrates thirty-three of his architectural drawings and etchings. This spiral-bound guidebook, which sold out before it was released, ultimately sold over thirty thousand copies.
Personal life In 1886, he married Louise Amelia Giesen (1862-1937) of
Kenner, Louisiana. They had four children: • Alma Louise Woodward (1887-1939+). She married William Bainbridge Logan. • Eleanor Woodward (1889-1939+). She married Clarence Blosser and later George C. Moseley. • William Giesen Woodward (1892-1939+). • Carl Ellsworth Woodward (1894-1972). He married Mollie Holland (1894-1967). While painting a mural for the
United Fruit Company in New Orleans in 1921, Woodward fell off a scaffold and injured his spine, resulting in permanent paralysis of the legs. Woodward and his wife retired to
Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1923. Using a wheelchair, Woodward remained active, and his retirement years were filled with prolific artwork, travel around the United States in a specially-equipped automobile, and his work as founder of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Art Association. He died at Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans on November 17, 1939. ==Secondary source==