Nancy Elizabeth Prophet

Who was Nancy Elizabeth Prophet?

Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, born March 19, 1890, to William H. Prophet and Rose Walker Prophet, in Warwick, Rhode Island, matured into a sculptural artist during the Harlem Renaissance.

In 1918, at the age of 24, Prophet, a high school graduate, enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. While attending RISD, she married Francis Ford, whom she later divorced. Prophet began her studies in art, focusing on painting and drawing, especially portraiture.

She immediately began advertising her name in exhibits in Newport and New York. Prophet was not allowed to appear alongside her work due to the color of her skin—being of both African American and Narragansett Indian descent, gallery owners found her appearance “socially unacceptable”. Taking a stand to this racial discrimination, Prophet refused to succumb to the times and denied galleries her artwork where she was not accepted.

Leaving behind the racial turmoil she faced in the United States, Prophet moved to Paris in 1922 to further study her newfound passion and claim the credit her work rightfully deserved. Prophet found her calling in marble sculptures of life-size faces that vividly portrayed various moods.