Speight, Francis, 1896-

Landscape painter Francis Speight was born 11 September 1896 in Windsor, Bertie County, N.C., the son of Margaret Sharrock Cobb Speight and the Reverend Thomas T. Speight, a Baptist preacher. As a boy, he was an energetic farm worker, but always displayed an aptitude for writing and drawing. In 1915, Speight enrolled at Wake Forest College and began taking art lessons at Meredith College from Ida Poteat.

In 1920, Speight enrolled at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and later went on to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied under American impressionist Daniel Garber. Speight joined the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts faculty in 1925 and conducted painting and design classes there, either during regular sessions or in summer school programs, until 1979. It was at the Academy that he met Sarah Blakeslee, whom he married in 1936. The Speights had two children, Thomas Blakeslee (Tom) (1939/40?- ) and Elisabeth Sharrock (1943- ).

During the 1920s and 1930s, Francis Speight began painting the hilly, blue collar neighborhoods of Manayunk, Pa. It is for these landscapes, depicting the rolling hills just outside Philadelphia, that he is best known. The Speights moved to North Carolina in 1961, when Francis took up the post of artist-in-residence at East Carolina University. He held this position until 1976.

Francis Speight received many honors during his lifetime, including honorary doctorates from Wake Forest University and Holy Cross College, the Academy Gold Medal of Honor from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the North Carolina Medal of Achievement in the Fine Arts, and the O. Max Gardner Award from the University of North Carolina. He died on 14 November 1989.

Sarah Blakeslee Speight, who was also an artist, was born in Evanston, Ill., on 13 January 1912. As a child, she studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. Later, she studied at the Corcoran School of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Her paintings have been shown in numerous exhibits, and she was honored with several prestigious prizes, including the North Carolina Medal of Achievement in the Fine Arts. While she earned a reputation as an important North Carolina landscape painter, she is perhaps best known for her portraits, especially those of children.

After her husband's death, Sarah Blakeslee Speight continued painting for many years. In 1998, she moved back to Philadelphia to be near her daughter. She died on 12 January 2005.

From the guide to the Francis Speight and Sarah Blakeslee Speight Papers, 1836-1998, (Southern Historical Collection)