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Muriel F. Underwood is a Chicago-based designer active from the mid-20th century until the present. She was born in 1923 in Chillicothe, Ohio. She joined the Marine Corps in 1943 and worked as a mimeograph machine operator. During her military service, she attended the San Diego School of Art. After she was discharged in 1946, Underwood attended the Art Institute of Chicago. She has remained active in the veteran community, writing and editing a newsletter for and about women who have served in the Marine Corps.
Underwood worked as a book designer for Scott, Foresman and Company, and later Follett publishing company. In the late 1960s, she left Follett and began her own company, Miscellaneous Graphics, in order to do freelance book design work.
Underwood was a board member, officer, and fellow of the Society of Typographic Arts, now the American Center for Design. As an officer, she designed many programs and publications. She also is a co-founder of the STA Type Workshop. Underwood continued to use the Type Workshop for many years, printing and binding her own miniature books. The Type Workshop is now located at Columbia College's Center for Book and Paper Arts.
This collection contains items related to Muriel Underwood's art and design process and work with STA, including prototypes, final versions of book design work, exhibition catalogs, reference materials, books about design, sketchbooks, and graphic design organization publications.
The collection is split into seven series: Series I: Muriel Underwood's design work, split into four subseries: I: work for Scott, Foresman and Company, II: work for Follett Publishing Company, III: work for miscellaneous publishers, and IV: personal design work; Series II: Underwood's work as an STA officer, split into three subseries: I: proposed metric conversion, II: STA fellow biography project, and III: other miscellaneous work; Series III: correspondence, which is alphabetical by sender and consists largely of Christmas and holiday cards from fellow designers; Series IV: reference materials, split into four subseries: I: class materials, II: samples, III: newspaper clippings, and IV: M.V. Millbourn clipping; Series V: graphic design publications, which are organized alphabetically by publishing organization and/or periodical name; Series VI: personal papers, which consist of Underwood's Marine materials; and Series VII: oversized materials, which include posters, tearsheets, and news clippings. Please note that some STA materials, such as publications and programs, were migrated to the STA collection also located at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Access restrictions -- Available without restriction.
Use restrictions -- Available without restriction.
Muriel Underwood papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago