Born in Winona, Minnesota. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and later in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Academie Juliane. He created "The End of the Trail" about 1893. The work brought him to the attention of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He opened his own studio in 1902. From 1906 to 1911 he was an instructor at the Art Students League of New York and assistant to Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He married one of his students, Laura Gardin Fraser, November 27, 1913.

He created monuments including those of Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin for the Treasury Building, "Justice" and "Law" for the Supreme Court Building, the bust of Saint-Gaudens for New York University, the Theodore Roosevelt equestrian statue for the Museum of Natural History in New York City and Benjamin Franklin for the Franklin Institute. As a medalist he designed the Navy's Distinguished Service Medal and the World War I Victory Medal.

He was the designer for the "Buffalo" nickel in 1913. He and Laura Gardin Fraser are credited with the design of the Oregon Trail half of 1926-1939. He served on the Assay Commission in 1921.

Fraser designed the Norse American medal issued in 1925. The legend "OPUS FRASER" appears on the reverse. This means "the work of Fraser."

The James Earle and Laura Gardin Fraser papers are held at Syracuse University.

He died in Westport, Connecticut.

bio: CCUS; DAB; Fielding; NCAB 16, 40; P-F; WAB; WWWA-3; WWWAmArt profile: NUM 65 Aug 1952 pages 799-800 obit: NSM Nov 1953 page 1166; NUM 66 Dec 1953 p. 1293; E-Sylum 9/18/22