Elizabeth Keefer Boatright was born and raised in Houston and attended the Southern Seminary in Buena Vista, Virginia (1915-17); the Art Institute of Chicago (1920-24); and the Art Students League in New York (1924-25). She became the assistant of etcher Joseph Pennell. From 1925 until his death a year later, she was his assistant. In 1926 she joined the faculty of Sul Ross State College in Alpine, Texas, as art instructor. In 1931, she married folklorist Dr. Mody Boatright, and they lived in Austin where he was a Professor of English at the University. She was nationaly known for her etchings but gave them up when her child was almost injured by acid in her workshop. She then concentrated on watercolors.