Babcock (1887 - 1954) was born in Denmark, Iowa. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, at the Herron Art Institute of Indianapolis, and in Munich, Germany. Babbcock moved to Evanston, Illinois and taught at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and the School of the Art Institute, where he had several one-man exhibitions. Aside from designing government posters, Babcock worked as an illustrator for Encyclopedia Britannica, specializing in natural history subjects, and created a Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural at the Legler Library in Chicago, Illinois.