THE FIFTIES ONWARD
Nelson continues exhibiting regularly at the Dubin Gallery. He also continues teaching art at the Hussian Art School in Philadelphia. January: Invitation to the 1950 Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

June-July: Spends time in Haiti at the Centre d'Art where a friend has established an art school. He is urged to teach there by the students, but he declines on the grounds that "primitive art should not be taught."

August 22-September 15: "American Color Woodcuts," George Binet Gallery, 67 East 57th Street, New York.

1951
April 27: Nelson receives his first teaching contract as an instructor at Moore Institute of Science and Industry at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, for the academic year 1951-1952. He becomes an Associate Professor in 1952, and then a full professor in 1954. He lost this title when the school became accredited in 1956. In 1968 he was named Head of Moore College of Art Abroad in Florence for the spring term of 1969. When the Department of Applied Design was dropped, Nelson became Head of the Graphic Arts Department.

He retired from teaching full-time in 1977 due to the union contract stipulation that no teacher could remain a full-time educator after his 65th birthday. He continued to work part-time until 1981.

1952
May 29: Print Club, Nelson's Female Form purchased by The Philadelphia Museum of Art. September: Joins the faculty of Moore College of Art, teaching Two-Dimensional Design, Graphics (woodblock, silk screen, and the metal plate), and Advanced Design.

1954
May: One-man exhibition at Hugo Gallery, New York, May 17-June 5, reviewed by The New York Times.

1956
November 28-December 24: Dubin Gallery, one-man exhibit of 63 paintings, drawings, collages, and sculptures.

1959
January 17-March 8: The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Twenty-Sixth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Washington, D.C.

1961
January 6-January 28: The Newman Contemporary Gallery, One-Man Show of
Paintings and Sculpture, 1625 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.

1962
July-August: Alma Neas and Nelson travel to Europe together visiting London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, the French Riviera, Rome, Athens, Greek Islands, Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Beersheba, Istanbul, and Vienna.

1963
June 23: Nelson marries Alma Neas, a former Moore student. They move into the old Ukranian-American Benevolent Citizens Society Clubhouse in the Fairmont section of Philadelphia, where they remained until 1985.

1966
September 24: Nelson solicits a number of New York art galleries for a personal exhibition without success.

1969
January through May: Nelson is appointed Director, Moore College of Art in Florence, Italy, and takes 13 students and his wife with him for the spring semester. Receiving an additional sabbatical from the college, they stay on to the end of August, painting in Florence, and also touring Europe.

1974
December: Nelson suffers a heart attack during a student review, when he is angered by a student he has accused of plagiarism who will not admit to it. After his recovery Nelson continues to paint vigorously and resumes his regularly scheduled exhibitions at various Philadelphia art galleries.

1976
October 7-28: The Moore College of Art organizes a large Nelson retrospective covering the period 1936-1976.

1983
The Moore Gallery in Philadelphia begins showing Nelson's work regularly, in annual solo shows.

1985
The Nelsons move from Philadelphia into their last, permanent home in Berwyn, PA. Nelson builds himself a new studio with a north skylight in a generous space attached to his home.

1993
November 23: Leonard Nelson dies.