Ceramicist and sculptor Howard Mallory (1930-2012) was known for his involvement with AfriCOBRA and celebrated for his African masks made with found objects commemorating important figures in Black history. A native of Chicago, Mallory graduated from Tilden Technical High School and attended the Illinois Institute of Technology before serving in the Army. Though he built his career with International Harvester Co., he dedicated his free time to his creative practice and fostered his love for sculpting by taking evening classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Hamilton Park Field House. After he was diagnosed with glaucoma in the mid 1970s, his practice expanded to creating ceramics by hand instead of a pottery wheel and he also began hand-carving walking sticks. Some twenty years later and after he became legally blind, Mallory began to incorporate found objects in his work, creating African masks from materials such as bicycle wheels, hardware from doors and locks, faucet handles, and wood and metal scraps. Throughout his life, Mallory committed his practice to creating positive images of Black people and making art that was accessible and affordable.