Poor, Henry Varnum

Poor, Henry Varnum, 1888–1970, American painter, b. Chapman, Kans. Poor's lyrical still lifes, portraits, and landscapes are simply painted in many media. He painted murals in fresco for the Dept. of Justice and Dept. of Interior buildings, Washington D.C., and for Pennsylvania State College (now Pennsylvania State Univ.). Poor taught art at Columbia and in Maine. His work is represented in many American museums, including the Whitney Museum and the Metropolitan Museum, in New York City. He was also famed for his work in ceramics. Poor wrote Artist Sees Alaska (1945) and A Book of Pottery (1958).

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Poor, Henry Varnum (1821–1905) economist; born in East Andover, Maine. A lawyer and member of the Whig Party, he campaigned for William Henry Harrison before leaving law, and Maine, to join his brother (John Alfred) in New York City and edit the first commercial periodical on railroads, American Railroad Journal (1849–62). He collaborated on and authored several important compilations of railroad statistics and histories culminating in the so-called "Poor's Manual," Manual of Railroads in the United States (1868), an annual publication which he wrote with his son, Henry William (1844–1915). In 1867 he opened the firm H. V. & H. W. Poor to import rails and railway supplies. He wrote many other books on economics, including Resumption and the Silver Question (1878), and argued in favor of protectionist tariffs.

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Poor, Henry Varnum (1888–1971) ceramist; born in Chapman, Kans. Following study at Stanford University and in London and Paris art schools, he returned in 1912 to the U.S.A. to teach art. In 1920 he established a studio in Rockland County, N.Y. His first ceramics exhibit (1922) earned a reputation that brought him such commissions as creating painted vases and lamps for Radio City Music Hall (1932).