Anne Mergen: Editorial Cartoonist
February 1 – April 11, 2008
Be sure to visit the Library and see the exhibit of Ms. Mergen's work.Anne Mergen’s editorial cartoons chronicle history from the Great Depression through the Cold War. During that time, she was the only woman in the nation working as an editorial cartoonist.
Mergen was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1906. She studied commercial art in Chicago before moving to Miami in the mid 1920s to work as a fashion advertising artist for a local department store. When the Miami Daily News, part of the Cox newspaper chain, hired her as its editorial cartoonist in 1933, she was the only woman editorial cartoonist in the United States, a status that continued until her retirement in 1956. She continued to have cartoons published as late as 1959.
She had a home studio and all of the contemporary press coverage about her career celebrates the fact that she drew her editorial cartoons only after fulfilling her duties as wife and mother to two children. In addition to being published in the Miami Daily News, her cartoons were published in other Cox newspapers including the Atlanta Journal and the Dayton News.
The editorial cartoons in this exhibit range from Mergen’s take on Goebbels’ propaganda to the advent of nuclear power. She was a thoughtful commentator on the events of her time and her work merits wider recognition.
Anne Mergen died in 1994. The cartoons in this exhibition were donated to the Cartoon Research Library by her grandchildren, Matthew Bernhardt and Christine Hoverman. The Anne Mergen Collection at the Cartoon Research Library contains almost 600 original editorial cartoons documenting her work.
The OSU Cartoon Reasearch Library is located in the Northeast portion of the Wexner Center complex, north of the Mershon Auditorium. Entry doors are located underneath the large, white, steel grid that runs north-south (parallel to High St.) at the north end. After entering the building, take the stairs or elevator down one floor. The Cartoon Research Library is located next to the Fine Arts Library.
The Gallery/Reading Room is open M-F 9a-5p. No appointments are necessary to view exhibits in the reading room.
Cartoon Research Library
27 West 17th Ave. Mall
Columbus, OH 43210-1393
T 614.292.0538
F 614.292.9101
E cartoons@osu.edu
Parking for the Cartoon Research Library is available at the Ohio Union Garage . The South Campus Gateway garage, located one block east of North High Street between 9th and 11th Avenues, is also nearby. For other parking on campus, search area parking map.
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