Prince, William Meade, 1893-1951

William Meade Prince (9 July 1893-10 November 1951) was born in Roanoke, Va. and lived in Chapel Hill with his parents and grandfather, Episcopal rector Dr. William Meade, from age five to fifteen. Prince then moved to Birmingham, Ala., to work for a short time. He studied at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, 1913-1915, and, upon winning a contest sponsored by Collier's magazine, began his career as a magazine and book illustrator. Prince illustrated stories for magazines such as Collier's, Saturday Evening Post, Red Book, and Cosmopolitan . He also produced illustrations for the work of authors such as James Street, Philip Wylie, Kathleen Norris, William Saroyan, and Arnold Bennet. He was noted for his illustrations of the stories of Roark Bradford, and, among other advertising assignments, did a long-running advertising campaign for Dodge cars.

After moving to Chapel Hill with his wife, Lillian Hughes Prince (17 June 1893-25 February 1962), whom he met while in Birmingham, Ala., and married in 1915, Prince became involved with acting. During this time, he remained active as an illustrator and taught in the Art Department of the University of North Carolina. He also produced The Southern Part of Heaven (1950), the best-selling memoir of his childhood. During World War II, Prince was for a time as acting head of the University of North Carolina Art Department and also did drawings and posters for the Committee to Defend America, the American Field Hospital Corps, and the USO.

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