Fay King Imhoff

Fay King Imhoff
Black and white photo of a white woman with dark hair sitting at a desk and using an elaborate pen to draw on a heavy piece of paper
Imhoff c. 1952
Born
Fay King

(1904-11-11)November 11, 1904
New Burnside, Illinois
DiedApril 13, 1989(1989-04-13) (aged 84)
Fort Myers, Florida
OccupationCalligrapher
Known forInvitations to presidential inaugurations
SpouseLawrence E. Imhoff (m. 1950)

Fay King Imhoff (11 November 1904 – 13 April 1989) was an American calligrapher.[1] Her work in Washington, D.C., included producing invitations for the inaugurations of presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.[2]

Early life

She was born Fay King into a farming family in New Burnside, Illinois, on 11 November 1904.[1] As a child, her father criticized her handwriting, and she began to focus on improving her presentation, taking any opportunity she found to study penmanship.[3]

She studied at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, earning a teaching certificate before she was 17, and worked for a decade as a teacher before moving to Washington to work for Louisiana congressman James H. Morrison.[1][4][5] There, she met Ohio congressman Lawrence E. Imhoff, whom she would marry in 1950.[1][6]

Career

During World War II Imhoff worked as a cryptographer and lived in London.[4][5] While there, she produced an illuminated copy of the royal coat of arms which she presented to the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.[4]

Her first major calligraphy commission occurred in 1946 when a committee asked her to prepare invitations for dignitaries invited to a memorial for Franklin D. Roosevelt.[4] She went on to illuminate a scroll granting a citizenship award to Douglas MacArthur, and then was asked to prepare 30,000 invitations to Truman's inauguration.[4] She made 50,000 for Eisenhower's first inauguration, 52,000 for his second, and 125,000 for Kennedy's.[2] A television crew once filmed her preparing an invitation in approximately 22.5 seconds.[4]

Between inaugurations, she was employed in the federal government. Imhoff could skillfully reproduce signatures and was authorized to sign official documents on behalf of certain government officials.[5]

Later life

Imhoff and her husband retired to Fort Myers, Florida in 1964.[1][2] She died in Fort Myers on 13 April 1989.[1] Her husband had died the previous year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sheehan, Amy (6 April 1989). "Fay Imhoff's Elegant Script Lives on in Historic Papers". News-Press. p. 24.
  2. 1 2 3 Ruediver, Steve (7 January 1972). "Mrs. Imhoff's Handwriting Is Seen On Many Walls". The Tampa Tribune. p. 41.
  3. ↑ Keegan, Peter (27 December 1958). "Washington Inside Out". The Oklahoma Courier. p. 8.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Say, Lillian Porter (14 December 1952). "Gifted Woman Takes Pen in Hand to Add Flourish to Inauguration". The Oregon Daily Journal. p. 57.
  5. 1 2 3 "Invited to Inauguration? Fay Imhoff Addressed It". Asbury Park Press. WNS. 25 December 1960. p. 23.
  6. ↑ "Ex-Herrin Pen Artist Retires". Southern Illinoisan. 15 June 1954. p. 10.
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