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> Exhibitions > Ohio Cartoonists > Introduction
Introduction
Ohio
Cartoonists: A Bicentennial Celebration was an exhibition during
the summer and early fall of 2003 which was shown at two venues,
the Philip Sills Exhibit Hall, William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library
and the Reading Room Gallery of the Cartoon Research Library.
Ohio has remarkable place in the history of American cartooning.
The number of well-known cartoonists who were born, educated and/or
worked in the state is amazing. It was fitting during this bicentennial
year to honor our state’s extraordinary legacy with this exhibition.
Geography is certainly a factor in the development of professional
cartoonists in the region. The Northwest Territory lured settlers
west. Lake Erie and Ohio’s rivers, and later, roads, canals and
railways, made travel and the distribution of newspapers and magazines
from the East Coast and Europe possible. The area’s first newspaper
was published in 1793, ten years before statehood. The Scripps and
Cox families began their newspaper dynasties here. Ohio’s combination
of industry and agriculture plus its urban centers gave the state
extraordinary political power, as evidenced by its nickname as “Mother
of Presidents.”
With the growth of magazines with national circulation in the late
nineteenth century, Ohio cartoonists such as Frederick Burr Opper,
W. A. Rogers, and James A. Wales migrated to New York City to work
on them, and the Ohio sensibilities they reflected in their work
were widely popular. Richard Felton Outcault, creator of what is
known as the first newspaper comic strip Hogan’s Alley, was born
in Lancaster. Charles Nelan of the Cleveland Press was the first
editorial cartoonist to be syndicated. Hooper commented in his 1933
History of Ohio Journalism, “Columbus is notable among cities of
its size for its excellent newspaper cartoonists," and he names
Billy Ireland, Harry J. Westerman, Harry Keys, Ray O. Evans, and
Dudley T. Fisher. Unfortunately Edwina Dumm, the first American
woman to work as a fulltime editorial cartoonist when she drew for
the Columbus Monitor in 1915-1916, is omitted from his list.
Dozens of future cartoonists took C. N. Landon's Cleveland-based
correspondence course, and he hired several to create cartoon features for
Newspaper Enterprise Association. Ohioans whose work was syndicated to millions
of readers in the first half of the twentieth century included Billy
DeBeck, Milton Caniff, H. T. Webster, and J. R. Williams. James
Thurber and Gardner Rea enjoyed successful careers as magazine cartoonists.
Superman was created by two young men from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel
and Joe Shuster. At least six Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists
have Ohio ties: Tony Auth, Jim Borgman, Walt Handlesman, Ed Kuekes,
Charles Macauley, and Mike Peters. Robert Crumb, Cathy Guisewite,
and Bill Watterson furthered the legacy of Ohio cartoonists, and
the next generation continues it, as evidenced by the work of Tony
Cochran, Jeff Smith, Ted Rall, P. Craig Russell and numerous others.
The 2003 exhibition at Thompson Library included work by Tony Auth,
Tom Bachtell, Jennifer Berman, Jim Berry, Jim Borgman, Milton Caniff,
Tony Cochran, Bill Crawford, Billy DeBeck, Dick Dugan, Edwina Dumm,
Cathy Guisewite, Walt Handlesman, Billy Ireland, Ed Kuekes, Jim
Larrick, Charles Macauley, Winsor McCay, Leland McClelland, Willard
Mullin, Charles Nelan, Frederick Burr Opper, Ray Osrin, Richard
Felton Outcault, Paul Palnik, Mike Peters, P. Craig Russell, Noel
Sickles, Jeff Stahler, L. D. Warren, Ned White, Larry Wright.
The cartoonists featured in the Cartoon Research Library exhibit
were Tom Bachtell, Jim Baker, Tom Batiuk, Jennifer Berman, Jim Berry,
Milton Caniff, Tony Cochran, Eugene Craig, James Donahey, Edwina
Dumm, Bob Englehart, Ray Evans, Sr., Dudley T. Fisher, Jr., Franklin
Folger, Doc Goodwin, Cathy Guisewite, Walt Handlesman, Pete Hoffman,
Jud Hurd, Billy Ireland, Jim Larrick, Winsor McCay, Frederick Burr
Opper, Richard Felton Outcault, Mike Peters, Art Poinier, Jeff Stahler,
Jeff Smith, Kirk Walters, L.D. Warren, Harry Westerman, Ned White,
J.R. Williams, and Dick Wright.
The digital version of this exhibition highlights the accomplishments
of six of the state’s most notable late nineteenth and early twentieth
century newspaper and magazine cartoonists.
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