Kate Wyman, B.A. 2008

Kate Wyman, B.A. English, 2008

The summer after her 2008 graduation from UD, Kate Wyman was given a 1910 Chandler & Price platen printing press. She spent that summer refurbishing its frozen gears, studying its history, and teaching herself how to make it print. She was smitten.

Kate left her printing press behind in Louisiana and moved to Chicago, where she worked a series of jobs, including one at a watchdog organization where she put her UD research skills to use in an unexpected way: co-writing a reference book on Chicago's street gangs. But to keep her interest in antique printing alive, she apprenticed under a master typesetter and letterpress printer in a working print shop.

My desire to preserve the craft of letterpress printing is, without a doubt, rooted in the respect of tradition that UD gave me. I cemented my deep love for words, fine art, and history while I studied at UD, and letterpress printing is where the three meet: turning words and images into art while preserving a piece of history. The mechanics of crisp writing, the literary devices, translate seamlessly into the elements of good visual design work, and I use them every day. I didn't need training in letterpress printing in college; proper training came from my hands-on apprenticeship. What I needed, and what I received at UD, was the stamina and desire to keep alive that which is in danger of being lost. The UD community thrives on this stamina and uses it to preserve an engagement with the heroes of Western Civilization. I hope to preserve the craft of letterpress printing with the same zeal.

Kate's work can be found at grovestreetpress.com, and at her shop in the Warehouse District of New Orleans.