Eugene Winslow was an American artist, illustrator, businessman and publisher. He co-founded Afro-Am Publishing in Chicago, Illinois. In 2000, the DuSable Museum of African-American History honored him as one of seven black design pioneers in Chicago.

Early life and education

Eugene Winslow was born on November 17, 1919, in Dayton, Ohio. Both of his parents were college graduates who encouraged all seven of their children to pursue education and the arts. Winslow attended Froebel High School in Gary, Indiana, and then received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dillard University in New Orleans in 1943. After graduating from Dillard, Winslow entered the 477th Bomber Group of the Air Force, making him a member of the Tuskegee Airmen. He attained the rank of Second Lieutenant. He later served in the Air Force Reserve, becoming a First Lieutenant before he left in 1957. After the War, Winslow’s lifelong interest in art drew him to do post-graduate work at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He studied at these institutions concurrently from 1948 to 1951.

Throughout his early career, Winslow supplemented the income from his art by teaching and working as a newspaper cartoonist, advertising designer, and engineering draftsman.