Jennie Alexander spent her early childhood in Baltimore, Maryland learning to play the piano and later became a Jazz musician.

She was introduced to woodworking at the Baltimore polytechnic institute High School and would later go on to open up her own home shop in 1960.

[5] In 1978, Alexander wrote, Make a Chair from a Tree: An Introduction to Working Green Wood, which was the first woodworking book published by Taunton Press.

This book describes the process and tools required to construct a shaved two-slat post-and-rung chair without the use of a wood lathe.

She became a member of the Early American Industries Association (EAIA) which was a crucial step in her exploration of woodworking and chair making as it gave her access to collections of joined furniture.

[3] At Country Workshops she met Peter Follansbee, and after years of corresponding, would go on to co write a book with him called, Make a Joint Stool from a Tree: An Introduction to 17th-Century Joinery.