Editorial Cartoon Collections

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Robert F. Darden became fascinated with editorial cartoons at a young age. He drew for his high school and college newspapers as well as The Waco Tribune-Herald. While writing his thesis Drawing Power: Knott, Ficklen and McClanahan, Editorial Cartoonists for the Dallas Morning News at the University of North Texas, Darden interviewed many political cartoonists and traded original drawings with the artists.

His collection provided some of the source material for Poage Library's 2008 exhibition, Drawing Power. The corresponding symposium featured seminars and panels from several well-known editorial cartoonists and led to the donation of this archival collection.

Darden, an Emeritus Professor of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media at Baylor University, is the co-founder of the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University, the world's largest initiative to acquire and digitize America's fast-vanishing legacy of Black Gospel music.

The Collection

The scope of the collection ranges from the early 1940s to 2000 with a primary focus on the 1960s and 1970s. Works found in the collection were produced by many artists including Darden, Jack Hamm, Dan Foote, C.P. Houston, and more. Many of the cartoons address topics such as Texas sports, the oil industry, US politics, foreign and domestic policies, taxes, lunar landings, US foreign relations, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the economy, and Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

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Jack “Herc” Ficklen worked as an editorial cartoonist at The Dallas Morning News prior to and following his military service in World War II. He also created panels for the Los Angeles Times and started his own syndicate, Avalon Features.

The Collection

The Herc Ficklen editorial cartoon collection contains six cartoons Ficklen drew towards the end of his life, plus one he drew as a tribute to Walt Disney after his passing in 1966. The materials address several issues that impacted Texas and American society in the 1960s and 1970s including space travel, taxation, foreign policy, and the governorship of Dolph Briscoe. 

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Edward Henderson briefly worked as a printer for the Dallas Times Herald. In that role, he received this small collection of Bob Taylor editorial cartoons. Taylor joined the Dallas Times Herald as the newspaper’s first editorial cartoonist in 1958 and enjoyed an illustrious career, retiring in 1989. 

The Collection

The Edward O. Henderson collection of Bob Taylor Editorial Cartoons consists of five political cartoons drawn by Bob Taylor. Collection materials cover the mid-1970s, primarily focusing on President Gerald Ford’s administration and events leading up to the 1976 presidential election. This includes Ronald Reagan’s unsuccessful attempt to win the Republican Party nomination.

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In 1965, Clyde Peterson joined the staff of The Houston Chronicle as an editorial cartoonist, a position he held for 41 years until his retirement. Peterson drew over 12,000 cartoons throughout his career, signing his works under the alias of C. P. Houston. His cartoons ran in as many as 90 newspapers per week and were featured in prominent publications such as Time, U.S. News, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post.

The Collection

The C. P. Houston Editorial Cartoon collection contains 13 political cartoons from 1973 to 1976. The materials address issues during the administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford including U.S. withdrawal from the Vietnam War, Watergate, and the lack of trust in the federal government. Several cartoons critique the Ford Administration and its responses to terrorism, diplomatic relations, its handling of the CIA and media, and Ford's 1976 primary race against Republican challenger Ronald Reagan.

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Barbara Shafer, a longtime resident of Dallas and Austin, compiled this small collection of Bob Taylor editorial cartoons. Taylor joined the Dallas Times Herald as the newspaper’s first editorial cartoonist in 1958 and enjoyed an illustrious career, retiring in 1989.

The Collection

The Barbara Shafer collection of Bob Taylor Editorial Cartoons contains 11 cartoons Taylor drew for the Dallas Times Herald from 1967 to 1970. The materials chronicle significant events during Lyndon Johnson's and Richard Nixon's administrations. Taylor drew most of them in 1969 or 1970, the first two years of Richard Nixon's presidency. The cartoons address major historical events including NASA's Apollo 11 Moon Landing, the "successful failure" of Apollo 13, and the Vietnam War.