NORMAN ROCKWELL:
THE NEW ROCHELLE YEARS

Born in Manhattan on February 3, 1894, Rockwell spent his childhood in a variety of boarding houses in the New York area, including Mamaroneck. By the age of 17 Rockwell had illustrated his first children's book, Tell Me Why Stories. The same year his family moved to Brown Lodge, at 39 Prospect Street, New Rochelle. 

The family's new community was the consummate location for the budding illustrator. New Rochelle was, at the time, home to many of the country's leading illustrators who supplied the essential covers for the popular magazines of the day. He would live and work in New Rochelle for the next 25 years, in various homes and studios from the south end of the town to the north. 

Rockwell achieved tremendous popularity during his New Rochelle years. His detailed renderings affectionately captured typical, homespun America its people struck a mighty chord that resounded across the country. Not only did he become one of the best-known illustrators of the day - he was also a familiar and beloved figure around New Rochelle. With great admiration for his friends and neighbors, Rockwell was forever scouring the city for ideas, models, and props to compose his pictorial vignettes. 

"Some of my happiest years were spent in New Rochelle," Rockwell told a Standard Star reporter when he returned to New Rochelle for a visit in 1972. He died six years later, on November 9, 1978, at the age of 84. 

This exhibit was originally produced for the New Rochelle High School Museum of Arts and Culture (NR MAC), and was created by Barbara Davis, New Rochelle City Historian, and Theresa Kump Leghorn, former Executive Director of NR MAC and current President of the New Rochelle Council on the Arts.