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William E. Henning [“Bill”] (1911-1996) - student

Primarily a self-taught artist, Henning was born in Cedar Rapids and studied art under Adrian Dornbush and David McCosh at the Stone City Art Colony from 1932-1933. From 1934-35, he received the WPA federal commission for a mural at Harrison Elementary School in Cedar Rapids. Henning conceived the mural, called “Transportation,” and received the help of Grant Wood, who advised in design, color selection, and painting.

Henning received a brief appointment to the U.S. State Department in 1937 and returned home to Cedar Rapids to work for his father, the president of the Cedar Rapids Business College. At the school, Bill taught shorthand and was his father’s administrative assistant. While working at the business school, Henning was awarded the commission for a WPA mural at the Manchester, Iowa post office. That project, titled “Iowa Farm Life,” was completed and installed in 1939.

Following his mural phase, Henning turned his attentions to writing short stories, contemporary art reviews, and novels. The Heller (Scribners, 1947), a tale of a wayward woman, achieved some financial success and was featured in condensed form within The Ladies Home Journal. The book was followed shortly thereafter by The Haycott Album: A Novel (J.B. Lippincott) in 1956. Henning’s father, a professional in the penmanship industry, had spent many years gathering an extensive collection of handwriting samples from across the globe. The son’s interest in the collection developed into a posthumous work, An Elegant Hand: The Golden Age of American Penmanship and Calligraphy (2002), which charts famous artists known for their calligraphy. The book, an effort spanning twenty years of research and illustration, was dedicated to Henning’s father.

Known also for his cartoons and illustrations, Henning exhibited widely – the Iowa Art Salon (1931-35); Midwestern Exhibition, Kansas City (1935); the All Iowa Exhibit (Chicago), 1937; Cincinnati Museum of Fine Arts; the Annual Exhibit of American Paintings, Art Institute of Chicago; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; and other galleries.

Henning left Cedar Rapids in the early 1970s, resettling in the state of Washington, where he became an avid outdoorsman, mountain climber, and nature photographer. He eventually relocated to Riverside, California, where he died in 1996.

Online Resources for William Henning:

Harrison Elementary School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “Transportation: A Mural by William E. Henning.” Available: http://www.cr.k12.ia.us/harr/Transpor.html

Harrison Elementary School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “Text of a Letter by William E. Henning Concerning the Transportation Mural he Painted at Harrison School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.” From The Iowa Journal of History and Politics 37.3 (1939): 290-291. Available: http://www.cr.k12.ia.us/harr/henning.html

Paul Melzer Books, Inc. “Scenes of Cedar Rapids and Environs from the Early 1930s by Iowa WPA Artist William E. Henning.” Available: http://www.pmbooks.com/36Hennings.html

William E. Henning

William E. Henning painting the "Transportation" mural, 1935.

William E. Henning

Photos courtesy of Mrs. Bette Henning, Hemet, California.

When Tillage Begins: The Stone City Art Colony and School
Published online October 2003 by the
Busse Library,
Mount Mercy College
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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