Charles C. Dawson (1889–1981) was a pioneering artist, graphic designer, and curator whose work left a lasting impact on Chicago’s artistic and commercial landscape. Born in Georgia, Dawson studied at Tuskegee Institute before moving to New York City to attend the Art Students League, where he was its first Black student. Facing racism there, he relocated to Chicago, enrolling at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago while supporting himself as a Pullman porter and a waiter at the Cliff Dwellers Club, where he encountered leading artists and intellectuals.

After serving in World War I as part of the Buffalo Soldiers, Dawson returned to Chicago, where he built a career in commercial design, creating advertisements for Black-owned businesses such as Poro College and Valmor Products. He played a key role in Chicago’s Black Arts Movement, designing the catalog cover for Negro in Art Week (1927) and contributing to the landmark American Negro Exposition (1940), for which he designed historical dioramas.

Dawson also worked as a curator, serving as the first director of the Museum of Negro Art and Culture at Tuskegee University. In 1933, he published ABC’s of Great Negroes, a children’s book celebrating Black historical figures. His contributions helped define Chicago’s Black visual culture and remain a foundation of African American graphic design.