During the Second World War, Frances Rich joined the U.S. Naval Reserve first as a Lieutenant Junior Grade. She served as Special Assistant to the Director, Women's Reserve. Stationed in naval establishments throughout the United States and abroad, she completed her service to her country reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Immediately following the War, Frances Rich was invited to return to her alma mater, Smith College, as a full professor and was also given the responsibilities of director of public relations. In 1950 she made modelling and sculpture her exclusive occupations, working in clay and plaster, bronze and brass, marble and stone. Her work consists largely of portrait busts and religious figures, many of which are larger than life. Highlights of her work include the limestone Purdue Bas-Reliefs (1938) for the Union Building of Purdue University at Lafayette, Indiana; the Army-Navy Nurse Monument (1938) in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.; the Portrait Bust of Smith President, Herbert Davis (1950); the plaster statue of Questing Madonna for Madonna Festival at Santa Barbara, California; the bronze Christ Crucified (1954) for the Holy Trinity Church, Bremerton, Washington; The Laughing Pelican (1958) in front of the Pelican Building at the University of California in Berkeley; the terracotta statue of Katherine Hepburn as Cleopatra (1965) for The American Shakespeare Festival Theater at Stratford, Connecticut; the marble Bust of Suffragette, Alice Stone Blackwell (1961) at the Boston Public Library; the bronze statue of Our Lady of Combermere (1960) for the Madonna House at Combermere in Ontario, Canada; the polychrome oval bas-relief of Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom (1965) for Saint Cecilia Church at Stanwood, Washington; the polychrome relief of Madonna and Child (1970) for Holy Trinity Church in Bremerton, Washington; the bronze high-relief of Christ of the Sacred Heart (1972) for Saint Sebastian's Church of Los Angeles, California; and portrait busts of great personalities that were her friends, such as Diego Rivera (1941), Lotte Lehmann (1952), Margaret Sanger (1957), Virgil Thomson (1961), Lawrence Langner (1963), and Katharine Hepburn (1959, 1960, 1961).

Notably, Frances Rich is famed for her statues of Saint Francis of Assisi, an original free-standing type of remarkable grace. Highlights of this series includes The Firestone Saint Francis (1951) for Saint Margaret's Episcopal Church at Palm Desert in California, the Saint Francis (1952) for the De Young Museum of San Francisco, The Henderson Saint Francis (1954) for Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, The Milles Saint Francis (1960) commissioned by Carl Milles for Millesgarden at Lidingo in Sweden, and The Mount Hymettus Saint Francis (1972) commissioned by The American College of Greece in Athens.

Frances Rich has travelled to many countries, including China, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and Turkey. She spent as much of her time as possible studying the sculptural art of diverse civilizations and cultures. Her work has been exhibited in many parts of the world. She has been featured in many publications and has had personal exhibitions in major art centers, such as at the the Art Center of Phoenix (1954), Santa Barbara Museum of Art (1955), The California Palace of the Legion of Honor (1955), Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara (1955), and the Palm Springs Desert Museum in California (1969).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

ARMITAGE, MERLE The Sculpture of Frances Rich 1974 Manzanita Press, California

SLEIGHT, FREDERICK W. The Sculpture of Frances Rich 1969 Palm Springs Desert Museum, California