Dante Donato Radice

PVT in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : Co B

ASN#33195285

Born 1913 in DC, Died 1983

County of residence at enlistment: Washington, DC

Other residence(s): Washington, DC

United States Army, did not accompany the unit to Europe

Occupation before the war: foremen, construction

College education before the war: George Washington Univ. 4 years; Columbia; Art Students League

Source: 603rd Camouflage Engineer Roster provided by W. Anderson; photo courtesy Ancestry® and McKinley Technical High School 1932 yearbook

Dante Radice was born on December 12, 1913 in Washington, DC; the elder of two children. His father, and three of his four grandparents, had been born in Italy. His father had gone to work as a barber at the Metropolitan Club in DC, an old and exclusive club, when he was 14 years old, and had worked there for 54 years. His customers had included Presidents Taft, Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt.

Dante grew up in northwest DC, graduating from McKinley Technical High School in 1932. He was active in two different military training corps in high school and also played golf. Prior to the war he graduated from George Washington University, and also studied at Columbia University and the Art Students League in New York City.

He registered for the draft on October 16, 1940; at the time he was working for the WPA in an art program.

Between the time he finished his education and the time he enlisted, he was an active artist in Washington; he showed his work at several different exhibits and was part of a group of 14 Washington artists self-styled "In Transit," who opened a gallery in the city. In 1942, he won a prize in the 51st annual exhibition of the Society of Washington Artists, held at the Corcoran.

He enlisted on August 8, 1942, and was assigned to the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion. Unfortunately, he was unable to stay with the unit—he received a disability discharge on October 14, 1943; he was suffering from arterial hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Dante returned to DC and got a job as a teacher. He taught painting classes at Community Education, Inc. in Washington, and then started the art departments at both Georgetown Day School and the Hawthorne School. He taught at Georgetown from 1945 until the mid-1960s and at the Hawthorne School from 1956 to 1978 when he retired.

A former student of his at Hawthorne penned this account after his death, describing his art room at Hawthorne. "There were tables, a blackboard, all sorts of art materials, a sign that said 'Dante's Inferno,' south-facing windows for plentiful sunlight, and finally a large desk, but what made the room special was Dante. He might be sitting behind the desk, waving a cigarette while having an animated chat with a student. Or he might be quietly moving through the room, glancing at what we were doing, making helpful suggestions if needed. The Art Room was a classroom, but also a refuge and a place to be nurtured and even healed. At times, the entire school was transformed as Dante supervised the painting of murals. For Christmas the assembly room became a formal garden or a great hall complete with a balcony for musicians, and an angel graced the front hallway.

"At other times, the numerous museums of Washington became our classrooms, as Dante showed us works of art which he knew like old friends. Not all of us became artists, but Dante helped us all to gain a new appreciation of art. His deep caring for each one of us was the greatest of his many gifts."

Dante was a trained architect and drew plans for houses in his spare time. He also continued to practice art, doing watercolors, architectural drawings, and graphic designs. He served as a member of the board of directors of the Provincetown Playhouse in Provincetown, MA and did the interior design and curation of its Eugene O'Neill Theater Museum. (In a 1976 program from the playhouse, he is listed as "Museum Director.")*

In addition to DC galleries and exhibits, Dante's work was shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum in New York City and the Chicago Art Institute.

Dante died of emphysema on December 5, 1983 in Washington, DC and is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in the district.

*The playhouse was destroyed by arson in 1977. The building that served as the box office and museum survived and is today an art gallery.