"Dear Mr. Rockwell: You painted one of my sons black."

From the Norman Rockwell fan mail archive:


“Dear Mr. Rockwell,
Let me start this letter by telling you that I am the mother of two of the boys that posed for the 1974 Boy Scout Calendar.

“This is a very difficult letter to write as my boys happen to be twins and you painted one of them ‘black.’ Of course, they are both ‘white.’




“The boys have been eagerly awaiting the calendars and so have all our friends. Yesterday I received 20 copies I had requested from Brown & Bigelow and I haven’t had the courage to show it to them.

“I realize nothing can be done now but maybe you could write Steve (the one you painted black) a little note of apology so he’ll know it was a mistake. Steve happens to want to be an artist and he has some talent (he’s been drawing since he was around 2 yr. of age). A note from you would mean a lot. He even has your book, “60 Years in Retrospect.”

“The twins never even cashed your check as they are saving them as a souvenir of the day they posed for you.

“Mr. Rockwell, if there’s anything you can say to Steve to explain this I would be very grateful.

Yours sincerely,
Jennie Negron”


For the 1975 calendar, Norman Rockwell cast an African-American young man for the role.