Early Life, Family and Training Born on February 3, 1894, in Harlem, New York City, Norman Rockwell entered a world that would eventually become the subject of his lifelong observation. He was the son of Jarvis Waring Rockwell and Anne Mary "Nancy" (née Hill) Rockwell, growing up alongside his brother, Jarvis Jr. His lineage reached back to the very beginnings of the American experience, tracing through his earliest ancestor, John Rockwell, who arrived in the colonies in 1635. The path toward a career in illustration was paved through disciplined study rather than sudden inspiration. His fo…