Lydia Cooley

Born in Tacoma, Washington on January 13, 1906, Lydia Cooley, by the 1930s, had settled in New York City where she studied at the Art Students League under John Sloan. Her paintings of city life--especially of working-class women and children--show the influence of her teacher. In New York she met graphic artist and children's book author Don Freeman, who she married. She co-authored several of her husband's children’s books and illustrated two children’s books. They moved to Santa Barbara, California in 1958.