Anita Willets-Burnham

Anita Willets-Burnham was an American Impressionist artist, teacher at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, author, and lecturer.

She moved with her family to Chicago, Illinois, in 1883 so that her father could pursue work at F. A. Fletcher & Co. As a child, Willets drew and wrote diaries.

In 1903, Willets was accepted to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where she studied under Impressionist painter William Merritt Chase.

In 1921, Willets-Burnham embarked on a "world tour", visiting France, Spain, Belgium, England, and North Africa.

In 1928, she left for a second such tour, visiting Japan, Siam, Korea, China, India, Egypt, Palestine, Spain, England, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, Morocco, Switzerland, and the East Indies.

Suitcase on Wheels!” she wrote in her book ‘Round the World on a Penny, her illustrated travelogue originally published in 1933.

Her suitcase was fashioned by her son Bud with two wheels from an old baby carriage on one end and a telescoping wooden handle on the other.

[2] In 1931, Willets-Burnham was presented in a one-man show at the Art Institute, though it included some works from her eldest daughter Carol-Lou.

[1] In 1944, she helped raise $239,000 in war bonds from thirty-two Chicago area residents by pledging to paint their portraits.