{{Short description|American artist (1909–1959)}} '''Samuel Albert Countee''' (April 1, 1909 – September 11, 1959)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Pruitt |first=Bernadette |date=August 15, 2013 |title=Countee, Samuel Albert |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/countee-samuel-albert |access-date=2022-02-24 |website=Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Samuel Countee’s Paintings Continue To Inspire|url=https://www.countylinemagazine.com/arts/samuel-countee-s-paintings-continue-to-inspire/article_0b80d3d8-5761-11ea-8045-b71fbb9e8307.html|access-date=2022-02-24|website=County Line Magazine|language=en|archive-date=2022-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208193229/https://www.countylinemagazine.com/arts/samuel-countee-s-paintings-continue-to-inspire/article_0b80d3d8-5761-11ea-8045-b71fbb9e8307.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> was an American painter and sculptor.<ref name=":0" /> Countee's artwork depicted African-American life. The SSG Samuel A. Countee Hall at Fort Leonard Wood is named in his honor.<ref name=":2" />

== Early life and education == Countee was born April 1, 1909, in Marshall, Texas to Thomas Countee and Nannie Salina Yates Countee. He attended Booker T. Washington High School in Houston from 1924 to 1928.<ref name=":0" /> Countee graduated in 1934 with a B.A. degree in art from Bishop College.<ref name=obit/> While in college, he painted portraits of faculty and administrators to raise money for tuition.<ref name=":0" />

After Countee graduated from college in 1934, he received a scholarship to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (now School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts) where he served as an artist-in-residence.<ref name=":0" />

== Career == thumb|Samuel Countee mural during restoration process. The mural was reinstalled as Fort Leonard Wood's Countee Hall in 2017From 1933 to 1935, Countee exhibited his art in a number of shows. In 1933, his piece, ''Little Brown Boy,'' was exhibited by the William E. Harmon Foundation''.''<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hernandez|first=Blanca|date=September 8, 2017|title=Planned, Organized and Established: Houston Artist Cooperatives in the 1930s|url=https://issuu.com/samfanewsletter/docs/final_catalog_planned_organized_est|access-date=2022-02-24|website=issuu.com|language=en|archive-date=2022-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208195952/https://issuu.com/samfanewsletter/docs/final_catalog_planned_organized_est|url-status=dead}}</ref> He also exhibited at Howard University, Atlanta University, Smith College, Institute of Modern Art in Boston, and the 1936 Texas Centennial's Hall of Negro Life.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=See Houston's Early Black and White Artists Exhibit in One Room for the First Time|url=https://www.houstoniamag.com/arts-and-culture/2017/08/black-and-white-artists-1930s-exhibit-houston-public-library|access-date=2022-02-24|website=Houstonia|language=en-US}}</ref>

Countee was drafted into the United States Army in 1942 where he served in the 436th Engineer General Service Dump Truck Company. While in the Army, he was commissioned to create a mural for the African-American Officers’ Club at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Historic Black Officers Club memorialized for WWII Soldier-artist Samuel Countee|url=https://www.army.mil/article/225693/historic_black_officers_club_memorialized_for_wwii_soldier_artist_samuel_countee|access-date=2022-02-24|website=www.army.mil|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Fort Leonard Wood mural returns, awaiting display |url=https://www.army.mil/article/183450/fort_leonard_wood_mural_returns_awaiting_display |website=United States Army}}</ref> He also painted sets for USO shows.<ref name=":1" />

Countee moved to New York after being discharged from the military as a staff sergeant. He became known among New York artists and went on to paint portraits of Lucille Armstrong, Harry Belafonte, and Marian Anderson.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=grave/>

Countee taught art in the New York City Public Schools, working at a special school for narcotics addicts in the Bronx. He was also a private art instructor.<ref name=obit/>

== Personal life == Countee settled in Long Island, New York. He married Mary Miner in 1955.<ref name=":0" />

Countee died of cancer on September 11, 1959 at Meadowbrook Hospital in East Meadow, Nassau County. Prior to his death, he was living in Hempstead, New York.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=obit>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/09/13/archives/samuel-a-countee.html |title=Samuel A. Countee |date=September 13, 1959 |page=83 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2025-08-16}}</ref> Countee was interred at Long Island National Cemetery.<ref name=grave>{{cite web |url=https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/SAMUELALBERTCOUNTEE/DD61EB1 |title=Samuel Albert Countee |website=Veterans Legacy Memorial |publisher=U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs |access-date=2025-08-16}}</ref>

== Legacy == In 2019, the Fort Leonard Wood African-American Officers’ Club that houses Countee's mural was renamed SSG Samuel A. Countee Hall.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

Countee's niece, Sammie Witing-Ellis, helped to attribute the mural to her uncle after finding matching work in his sketchbook.<ref name=":2" />

== References ==

<references />

== External links == * [https://art.ua.edu/news/kristin-schwain-to-keynote-art-history-symposium-at-ua/attachment/countee-mural-flw-smaller-version/ Mural, SSG Samuel A. Countee Hall, Fort Leanord Wood]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Countee, Samuel A.}} Category:1909 births Category:1959 deaths Category:People from Marshall, Texas Category:Bishop College alumni Category:African-American artists Category:African-American painters Category:African-American sculptors Category:Artists from Texas Category:United States Army soldiers Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:Artists from New York City Category:Artists from New York (state) Category:People from Hempstead, New York Category:Burials at Long Island National Cemetery