Constance Joan Naar was born April 19, 1893 in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father, Joseph Levy Naar, was born in 1842 in the West Indies of Portugese ancestry. Her mother, Adele Seixas, was born in 1871 in New York of West Indian and Venezualan ancestry. Her parents married in 1891 and had four children, Frank (b.1892), Constance (b.1893), Mildred (b.1894), and Joseph (b.1902). The father also had two older children, Henry (b.1875) and Beatrice (b.1878), from a previous marriage to his cousin, Caroline Naar (1847-1888). The family lived at 142 West State Street in Trenton, NJ, where the father owned and operated the local newspaper, The Daily True American, which had been founded in 1858 by his father, Judge David Naar (1800-1880), who was born of Portugese ancestry on the Island of Saint Thomas in the West Indies.
Her father, Joseph Levy Naar, was a close friend of New Jersey Governor George Craig Ludlow (1830-1900), who hired him as his private secretary during the constitutional convention of 1894. Along with publishing the local newspaper, her father was also a trustee of the Trenton Hospital and a founding trustee of the Trenton Public Library.
On September 19, 1905 her father, Joseph Levy Naar, died at the age of sixty-two. Connie Naar was only twelve years old at the time. Ownership of the Trenton newspaper remained in the family as her step-brother, Henry Naar, age thirty, assumed control.
In June of 1910, at the age of seventeen, Connie Naar completed the tenth grade of high school, after which she entered the work force. Her first job was on the art staff of the family newspaper, The Daily True American.
In October of 1917 Connie Naar joined the staff of The Ridgewood Editor of Ridgewood, NJ.
In 1917 she contributed illustrations to The Ajax - a monthly magazine of Lovers of Literature, published in NYC.
By 1920 she lived in Brooklyn, where she began to contribute illustrations and poems to The Brooklyn Eagle.
In 1929 Constance Joan Naar wrote an article on the stained-glass artist Jim Hart (1858-1930) for The Brooklyn Eagle.
In 1930 she wrote an article on Americana Home Decor for The Brooklyn Eagle.
In 1930 Constance Joan Naar lived at 46 East 29th Street in Manhattan.
On January 6, 1932 Constance Joan Naar traveled to Bermuda on the steam ship Monarch of Bermuda.
In February of 1935 Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson produced New Fun, America's first comic book composed of original material, instead of reprinted comic strips from old newspapers. The first issues of this innovative comic book were printed by The Brooklyn Eagle. The indicia of New Fun #5 identified the Assistant Editor as Connie Naar. She also contributed to New Comics #1 a short story "Petey the Pup," which was illustrated by her drawings, making her the only person who contributed their talents as an editor, writer, and artist to these historic publications. The art editor was Lloyd Jacquet, who was also a journalist at The Brooklyn Eagle. The Advertising Manager was H. D. Cushing, and the Circulation Manager was Rexford May, both of whom were affilites of ANC. New Fun was distributed by Science-McCall, a division of ANC, which also owned the building in which Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's offices were located at 49 West 45th Street. Other artists whose drawings were published in these early comic books include Lyman Anderson, Adolphe Barreaux, Henry C. Kiefer, Rafael Astarita, Clem Gretter, W. C. Brigham, Jack A. Warren, Joe Archibald, Whitney Ellsworth (1908-1980), and Dick Loederer (1894-1981).
In 1936 Constance Naar illustrated "Out of the West" by Rufus Rockwell Wilson for the Wilson Erikson Publishing Company.
In 1940 Constance Joan Naar lived in New York City at 28 East 31st Street. She listed her occupation as "Editor at Publishing House."
During WWII she was regular contributor to Current Religious Thought, a periodical published by The Episcopal Church. At that same time, she was also a regular contributor to Radio Craft which was published by Hugo Gernsback.
In 1941 C. J. Naar was identified as a "portrait painter of New York City."
In 1944 she illustrated "Famous American Composers" by Grace Overmyer from Thomas Crowell Books.
In 1946 she illustrated "Famous Men of Science" by Sarah Bolton from the same publisher. One year later she illustrated "Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous," which was followed by "Lives of Girls Who Became Famous" by the same author and publisher.
In 1949 she illustrated "The Lonely Warrior" by Kathleen Mellen for Hastings House.
In 1950 she illustrated "Presidents of the United States" by Jane and Burt McConnell from Thomas Crowell Books.
In 1953 she illustrated "100 Most Important People of 1953" by Donald Robinson for Cardinal Paperback Books.
In 1957 the NYC Telephone Directory listed Constance Joan Naar at 309 East 55th Street.
In 1961 she illustrated "Sons of the South" by Clayton Rand from Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
In 1963 her poem "Carol" was published nationwide in syndicated newspapers...
"The night was blue over Bethlehem Town, And blue was the Mother's woolen gown, As she gently laid her Baby Down, As she laid Him on the hay. The little Lord Jesus as He lay, Nestled content on the roughened hay, Cooed at a donkey's welcoming bray, And He touched a lambkin's coat. Happiness rippled the lambkin's coat, And the donkey's bray was an echoing note, Of the glory song from an angel's throat, Amen to an angel's prayer."
Constance Joan Naar died of cancer in St. Luke's Hospital of New York City, at the age of seventy-one on September 5, 1964.
© David Saunders 2019 |
