Fire Light: The Life of Angel DeCora

Artist, teacher and Red Progressive, Angel DeCora (1869-1919) painted "Fire Light" to capture warm memories of her Nebraska Winnebago childhood. In this biography, Linda M. Waggoner draws on that glowing image to illuminate DeCora's life and artistry, which until now have been largely overlooked by scholars.

One of the first American Indian artists to be accepted within the mainstream art world, DeCora left her childhood home on the Winnebago reservation to find success in the urban Northeast at the turn of the twentieth century.

She established the first “Native Indian” art department at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. She continued to promote American Indian art throughout her career. Her work with the Society of American Indians was an organized movement to promote the culture, arts, and rights of American Indian people.

The story of this important historical figure is available on our site at "Fire Light."