Pious Ambitions

Book Cover Design

Client: UT Press
Art Direction and Design: Elisa Razak

Based on a trove of letters by Waits, Pious Ambitions provides a glimpse into the spiritual experience of Sally Merriam Wait, a young convert married to an ambitious preacher and eventual founder of Wake Forest University. Her writing constructs a picture of her life as a northern-born woman with anti-slavery leanings navigating the slaveholding South while striving to develop her religious faith. I was inspired by the collection of letters, journal entries and other documents which provided an amazing reference of her penmanship and power to write herself into being.