Vera B Williams

Vera Baker Williams (1927–2015) was an acclaimed American children's author and illustrator known for works like *A Chair for My Mother*, which won a Caldecott Honor, often centering on diverse, working-class families influenced by her Depression-era childhood as the daughter of Eastern European immigrants. She attended Black Mountain College from 1945–1950, studying under Josef Albers, married architect Paul Williams, and co-founded an artists’ co-op community; later, she engaged in political activism and began publishing children's books in the 1970s, earning awards including the 2009 NSK Neustadt Prize.