Abstract Clarence Oliver LaGrone was the first African-American student at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he studied with Carl Milles starting in the fall of 1941. Upon completing his studies at Cranbrook, Oliver worked a variety of jobs in order to support his family, including at the Ford Rouge Plant. During the McCarthy era, when Oliver refused to inform on his “communist” contacts in the art world, particularly Paul Robeson, he lost his UAW job. He returned to school, earning the equivalent...