Poteat, Clarissa Hale (July 10, 1905 - August 3, 1986)

Clarissa Hale Poteat (July 10, 1905 - August 3, 1986) was an American artist. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Poteat's father, Dr. Edwin McNeill Poteat, was a Baptist minister who was president of Furman University, a professor at a Chinese university, and a pastor at an Atlanta church. Miss Poteat graduated from Meredith College in 1927 and attended art schools in New York City. She was a very successful commercial artist and worked for the Wrigley Engraving Company, Foote and Davies, and the United Family Life Insurance Company. Her best-known work is a pictorial map of Georgia and she donated the plates for this work to the Atlanta Historical Society. In 1957, Poteat entered a contest to write a twenty-five word description of one of the seven wonders of the world. She wrote about the Taj Mahal and won first prize, which was a three week tour of Europe. Poteat never married.