E - ARTISTS
Evelyn Eller
Harold Sleichter Etter
(1911-1972)
Harold Sleichter Etter was born in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania on August 12, 1911. In his boyhood years, the family moved to Shippenburg, Pennsylvania. The "Town Directory" of 1925 lists his father as an agricultural publisher. As a lad, Etter had a the handicap of stammering, and his parents sent him to a speech therapy clinic in Ithaca, New York that helped him overcome it. While attending Shippenburg Teachers College (1930-1934), Harold majored in History and Geography and played the flute and piccolo in the College Band and Orchestra all four years and taught lessons in these instruments. In his senior year, he was a member of the Art Association and was art editor of the 1934 Cumberland school publication. From then on his major interest was painting. After his discharge from the milltary, he moved to St. Augustine, Florida, and opened the Brush and Palette Shop, which became one of the largest art stores in Florida. He did some private instruction in art and served as instructor for the St. Augustine Art Association (January 1947), and for the Artists Guild of the city. He was also known to have worked with famous artists Anthony Theime and Stanley Woodward while living there. Etter exhibited frequently in St. Augustine and won numerous awards including, the Water Color Award of the St. Augustine Art Association 1947-1948, the Hildegarde Muller-Uri Prize for Water Color in 1950, the Award For Oils by the Artists Guild in 1953 and for Water Color in 1954. About 1958 Etter moved back to Shippenburg, Pennsylvania as a single man and painted and taught art. He became poverty stricken and had to paint for food in his later years. He had to rely on charity to live. In 1970 he became ill with cirrhosis of the liver. Harold Sleichter Etter died in Shippenburg, Pennsylvania on September 1, 1972. He is buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Shippenburg.