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“Halt!” by Thomas Nast, Harper’s Weekly, 1874 October 17

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 58

Scope and Content:

From the Collection: The Helen Farr Sloan’s political cartoon collection (1802-1950) contains a variety of prints of political cartoons, illustrations, and caricatures from several different magazines. The collection contains pages from magazines, pages from books, and other prints that were not a part of a publication. The magazines featured include Puck, Judge, Vanity Fair (British, 1868-1914), Vanity Fair (American, 1913-1936), Harper’s Weekly, Gil Blas, Le Charivari, Truth, The New Yorker, The Illustrated London News, The New York Herald, and The Sun. There are other series included like Treagar’s Black Jokes and Le Gens de Paris. There are works from publishers like S.W. Fores, Currier & Ives, and J.Sidebotham. Also included are works by Rowlandson, which are individually published.

The first series contains cartoons from Puck magazine. Its materials are pages and covers from the magazine including the fronts and backs of the pages. The artists that are included are Frederick Burr Opper, Frederich Graetz, Bernhard Gillam, J.S. Pughe, James Albert Wales, and Samuel Ehrhart.

The second series contains cartoons from Judge magazine. The materials are pages and covers from the magazine and include both the fronts and backs of the pages. The artists that are included are Thomas Worth, Bernhard Gillam, Victor Gillam, and Grant E. Hamilton.

The third series contains cartoons, caricatures, and portraits from Vanity Fair (British, 1868-1914) and Vanity Fair (American, 1913-1936) magazines. The materials for the British magazine include the one-sided caricatures and cartoons featured in the publication. The material for the American magazine contains a portrait on the front and a table of contents on the back of the page. The artists that are included are Carlo Pellegrini (Ape/Singe), James Tissot (Coïdé), Thomas Nast, Leslie Ward (Spy), and William Henry Cotton.

The fourth series contains cartoons from Harper’s Weekly magazine. The materials include the front and back side of pages from the magazine. The artists that are included are William L. Sheppard, Charles G. Bush, Thomas Nast, and A.B. Frost.

The fifth series contains cartoons, caricatures, and illustrations from various magazines and publications. The artists and their publications include Théophile Steinlin, from Gil Blas, Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier (Paul Gavarni), from Le Gens de Paris, Thomas Rowlandson, William Summers, from Tregear’s Black Jokes, Charles Williams, William Elmes, George Cruikshank, Isaac Robert Cruikshank, Jules Joseph Georges Renard (Draner), Charles Robinson, from The Illustrated London News, Thomas Worth, Richard F. Outcault, from the New York Herald, Helen E. Hokinson, from The New Yorker, Charles Amédée de Noé (Cham), from Le Charivari, Sydney B. Griffin, from Truth, Oscar Cesare, from The Sun, and William Bruns.

There are a wide variety of themes and events covered in the cartoons and illustrations throughout the collection. There are numerous presidential elections covered including the elections of 1806, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, and 1900. The 43rd and 54th Congresses are both represented within cartoons in the series. Other events that are shown in cartoons in the collection are the Chicago World’s Fair/World’s Columbian Exposition, the Spanish-American War, Reconstruction, and the Kansas Exodus. There are also many representations of the Democratic, Republican, Greenback, and Citizens parties as well as Tammany Hall. Other themes included are immigration, Jewish communities, social ambition, weather problems, voting rights, the gold standard vs. free silver debate, diseases, family roles, plantations, white supremacy groups, Communism, financial issues, militaries, pic-nic societies, King George IV’s court, political corruption, and social events and issues. A large number of the cartoons included in the collections are products of their times and therefore many include racist language and depictions. The transcriptions and metadata associated with each cartoon is described as is for the purpose of providing the easiest access to the collection and does in no way reflect the views of Wilkes University or its archive department.

Dates

  • Created: 1874 October 17

Creator

Access:

Anyone may access these political cartoons.

Extent

1 items

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Type of Material:

Political cartoon

Condition Note:

Poor. The material has yellowing and numerous tears.

Measurements:

17.5 x 23 in

Title:

Halt!

Description:

The cartoon by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly features Columbia in a dress with a belt that says, “Justice,” and a crown. Nast frequently uses Columbia in his cartoons defending minorities in the United States. Here Columbia, who represents the United States, liberty, equality, and justice, is defending Black people in America from white supremacists like the White Men’s League. She is saying in the caption that this violence is not the way to have an orderly government. In one hand, she is holding a scale that says, “Equal Rights To All.” In her other she is holding out a sword that says, “Constitution Of The U.S.” She is striking the sword against the gun of a man who is stepping on a Black man who is laying on the ground and bleeding. There are other men behind him dressed in the same hat, jacket, pants, and belt, all also carrying guns. They are running towards the soldiers on the other side of Columbia who are in the background holding guns. The white house is behind them. The men on the right hold a flag that says, “White Men’s League.” The artist, Thomas Nast, was born in Germany and sent to school in America. He went to school for design and started drawing cartoons for Harper’s Weekly and was featured in Vanity Fair as well. He is known for popularizing different symbols like the Republican Party’s symbol. The back of the cartoon features an article on white supremacy in the South including the White Men’s League and the Klu Klux Klan. There is a small cartoon about these groups on the page as well as another unrelated article.

Transcription:

The title is printed below the image, “HALT!” Below that is the caption, “This is not the way ‘to repress corruption and to initiate the Negroes into the ways of honest and orderly government.”

Repository Details

Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository

Contact:
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