Francis Speight was born in Windsor, North Carolina in 1896. He lived most of his life in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The artist studied at both the Corcoran School of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Speight became an associate member of the National Academy of Design in 1937 and a full member in 1940. Francis Speight held exhibitions of his works and won prizes or medals at the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Connecticut Academy of the Fine Arts, the Sketch Club of Philadelphia, the Society of Washington Artists, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Speight is represented by many museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Boston Museum o...