DaBoll, Raymond F.

Chicago and Arkansas calligrapher and designer.

Raymond Franklin DaBoll (1892-1982) was born June 19, 1892 near Clyde, New York, he studied at the Rochester Athanaeum and Mechanics Institute (now RIT) and came to Chicago in 1912, where he continued his education at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Art. In Rochester he also studied singing, a hobby he pursued for the rest of his life. In 1915, he started working for Chicago advertising agencies. His work at Bertsch & Cooper allowed him to develop his interest in lettering. He went freelance in 1929, and had an extensive list of clients in Chicago and nationally. In 1952, DaBoll and his wife, Irene Briggs DaBoll, moved to Newark, Arkansas. There he retained many of his Chicago clients but also developed client relationships in Atlanta and elsewhere in the South. In semi-retirement he began to work on a book jointly authored with his wife, Recollections of the Lyceum and Chautauqua Circuits. DaBoll wrote and lectured widely about calligraphy. DaBoll was a founding member of the Society of Typographic Arts (1927), served on its board and in several other capacities, and did extensive art work for the society, most importantly the design of Paul Standard's Calligraphy's Flowering, Decay, & Restauration (1947) and The Book of Oz Cooper (1949). He was also a founder of the 27 Chicago Designers and an active member of the Cliff Dwellers. He died in 1982.

From the description of Raymond Franklin DaBoll papers, 1905-1982, bulk 1930-1982. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 698447149