Ashley Bryan

By Raff

  • Birth

    Ashley Bryan was born on July 13, 1923 in Harlem, NY

  • First Book Publication

    Alphabet Book Bryan made in kindergarten; He was the author, illustrator, publisher, and distributor

  • Applies to College

    Portfolio is extremely impressive, but "It would be a waste to give a scholarship to a colored person”

  • Accepted to Cooper Union School of Art and Engineering in New York City

    Acceptance based off his exam portfolio

  • Serving in WWII

    Only black man in his company.

  • Serving in WWII

    Bryan hid his artwork in his gas mask that depicted the scenes he saw everyday.

  • First Visit to Cranberry Isles

  • Goes to France to study art

  • Returns to the Bronx

    Teaches art full time until 1956

  • Attends the University of Freiburg in Germany

  • Returns to New York

    Taught at 9 or 10 institutions that included the Dalton School, Philadelphia College of Art, Queens College, and a residency at Dartmouth in 1967

  • Head of Visual Studies at Dartmouth

    Bryan was here until 1988 creating a safe environment for individuals' creativity while breaking down barriers.

  • Winner of Coretta Scott King Award for Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum (Atheneum)

  • Retired life on The Cranberry Isles

    Becomes full-time resident of The Cranberry Isles in 1988 where he creates art through "washed up treasures", as well as publishes numerous illustrated books.

  • Blackbird wins the Coretta Scott King Award

  • Winner of Coretta Scott King Award for Beautiful Blackbird

  • Winner of Coretta Scott King Award for illustration in Let it Shine

  • Received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for Lifetime Achievement

  • Received the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction

  • Ashley Bryan school named in Cranberry Isles in his honor

  • Received the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement

  • The Ashley Bryan Center is founded

    " to preserve, celebrate, and share broadly Bryan's work and his joy of discovery, invention, learning, and community