Bill Graham Papers, 1947-1966.

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Graham, Bill, 1920-
Abstract:
330 original editorial cartoons, correspondence and a published book.
Extent:
2 linear ft.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Bill Graham Papers,

Background

Scope and content:

The Bill Graham Papers are organized into two series. The first series, Cartoons consists of 330 original editorial cartoons published in the Arkansas Gazette (1954-1965). Five of the cartoons are undated. Of particular interest are Graham's cartoons during the "Little Rock Crisis", the period during which at the behest of Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus black students were barred from entering Little Rock Central High School during attempts to integrate it. Faubus’ (as well as other Southern states') defiance of federal court decisions and law and order was a running theme in Graham's cartoons during these years.

The cartoons from 1954 through the first two months of 1962 measure 11 1/4" x 14 1/4" and the last few years of cartoons measure 9 ½" x 11 ½". They were drawn on illustration board and paper with ink, crayon and graphite with notations appearing in blue pencil.

In addition, there several folders of incoming correspondence (1947-1966). The pieces of correspondence in the collection are photocopies and not originals. Included are letters from the Arkansas Gazette detailing the newspaper's decision to hire Graham as their editorial cartoonist, letters from fellow cartoonists and letters of appreciation from figures depicted in Graham's cartoons.

Also included is a published collection of editorials and cartoons (drawn by Graham) from the Arkansas Gazette titled Crisis in the South: the Little Rock Story (1959) which chronicles the newspaper's pieces about the desegregation of Little Rock's school system under the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Biographical / historical:

William “Bill” Karr Graham (1920-1994) was an American editorial cartoonist.

Bill Graham was born on December 14, 1920 in Coshocton, Ohio. Graham received a B.S. in social science from Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1942 where he contributed cartoons to the college yearbook. During World War II, Graham worked as an Army training artist and also created the comic strip Stinky while stationed at Fort Chaffee. Following the war, he was a reporter at the Coshocton Tribune and drew a Sunday panel, Smoke Signals from 1946 until 1948 when he was hired as the editorial cartoonist for the Arkansas Gazette.

Graham held membership in the National Cartoonists Society and the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. One book of his cartoons was published in 1974, A little drum roll, please ... : The second term of Richard M. Nixon: a collection of cartoons. His work has been exhibited several times: as part of a NCS and U.S. Treasury Department traveling exhibition in 1950, in England in 1951 and with an AAEC traveling exhibit in 1960. His cartoons were also displayed at the Pavilion D’Humor in Montreal in 1971.

After retiring from the Arkansas Gazette in 1985, Bill Graham died September 9, 1994 of lung cancer.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Bill Graham , 1967.
Arrangement:

The cartoons and correspondence are arranged in chronological order with undated cartoons and undated correspondence at the end of their respective series.

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Art -- Cartoonists
American South -- Caricatures and cartoons.
American wit and humor, Pictorial.
Caricatures and cartoons -- United States.
Cartoonists -- United States.
Civil rights movements -- United States -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Editorial cartoons -- Arkansas.
Editorial cartoons -- Little Rock (Ark.)
Editorial cartoons -- United States.
Political cartoons.
School integration -- Caricatures and cartoons.
World politics -- 1945-1989 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Cartoonists.
Cartoons (humorous images)
Correspondence.
Editorial cartoons.
Names:
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Faubus, Orval Eugene, 1910-1994 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Graham, Bill, 1920-
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Places:
United States -- Politics and government, 1945-1989 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Indexes:

Index to cartoons

The following is a list of predominant people, places and subjects appearing in the editorial cartoons in this collection. The list is not exhaustive. Some subjects may require you to browse with alternative terms.

B= Box, F= Folder. For example: B1F1= Box 1 Folder 1.

Africa B3F9
Alabama B3F4-B3F5B3F10
Algeria B2F7B3F1B3F11
Ali, Muhammad B3F11
apartheid B2F8
Arkansas B1F2-B1F4B1F6-B2F3B3F2B3F5-B3F7B3F9-B3F11B3F14
Asia B1F2B3F9
bankruptcy B1F3
Barnett, Ross B3F2B3F4
Berlin B1F11-B2F2B2F10B3F4
Bill of Rights B3F1
Britain B1F1B1F8B2F3-B2F5B2F11B3F9
Buckley, William B3F14
Burch, Dean B3F9
Butler, Paul M. B2F3
California B2F10
Canada B3F6
Carpenter, Scott B3F1
Castro, Fidel B2F1B2F6B2F11-B3F1
censorship B2F3
Cherry, Francis B1F2
China B1F10B2F8B3F5B3F9-B3F10B3F13
Churchill, Winston B1F2B1F4B3F3
civil rights B1F7B3F4-B3F5B3F8-B3F9
colonialism B1F1B1F4B3F1B3F13
communism B1F2B1F4B1F11B2F2B2F7B2F10B3F4-B3F5B3F13
Congo B2F8B2F10
Congress B1F1-B1F2B2F4B2F6B2F8B2F10B3F1-B3F2B3F5-B3F6B3F9B3F12B3F15
Connor, Bull B3F4
Cosmonauts B3F4
cost of living B3F15
Cuba B2F1B2F5-B2F6B2F8-B2F9B2F11-B3F3
Cuban Missile Crisis B3F2
de Gaulle, Charles B2F3B2F9B3F2B3F13
Democratic National Convention B3F9
Democratic Party B1F1B1F10B2F3B2F5-B2F6B3F2B3F12
desegregation B1F3B1F7-B1F8
Dirksen, Everett B2F9B2F11B3F2B3F7-B3F8
disarmament B2F3B2F9B2F11
discrimination B3F4
Dixiecrats B1F7B3F15
Dominican Republic B3F11
Dulles, John Foster B1F3B1F10
Duvalier, François B3F4
economy B1F1B1F9B2F8B3F4B3F15
education B1F10-B2F3B2F10B3F2
Egypt B3F8B3F11
Eisenhower, Dwight B1F5B1F7B1F10B2F3B2F7B3F9B3F15
elections B1F7B1F9B2F1-B2F3B2F5-B2F7B2F11B3F4B3F7-B3F8
espionage B2F5B3F13
Europe B1F5B3F1B3F4
evolution B3F14
farming B1F3
Faubus, Orval B1F2B1F6-B1F10B2F2-B2F3B3F2B3F7B3F9
Federal Communications Commission B2F3B2F9
Fong, Hiram B3F8
foreign policy B1F2-B1F3B1F10B2F8B2F10B3F3B3F13
France B1F1B2F3B2F5B2F7B3F1-B3F2
Fulbright, J. William B3F10
gambling B3F4B3F7B3F9
Geneva Summit B1F2
Georgia B1F6
Germany B3F15
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von B3F5
Goldwater, Barry B3F5B3F8-B3F9
Guevara, Che B3F2
Haiti B3F4
Halleck, Charles B2F9B2F11B3F2B3F8
Hammarskjold, Dag B2F7-B2F8
Harriman, W. Averell B3F8
Hays, Brooks B1F4B1F11B2F3
highway construction B3F3B3F11
Hoffa, Jimmy B1F10
holidays B2F4B3F8B3F14
Hoover Commission B1F2
Humphrey, Hubert B2F5
Illinois B2F7
India B3F13
industry (general) B2F3B3F13
integration B1F2B1F6
Israel B1F5
John Birch Society B3F8B3F13
Johnson, Lyndon Baines B2F5-B2F6B3F6-B3F10B3F12B3F14
Judd, Walter B3F8
Kennedy, Caroline B2F7-B2F8
Kennedy, Jacqueline B2F7-B2F8B3F1
Kennedy, John F. B2F5-B2F9B3F1-B3F2B3F4B3F6
Kennedy, John F. (Jr.) B2F7-B2F8
Kennedy, Robert F. B3F9
Kerr, Robert B3F2
Khrushchev, Nikita B2F1B2F3B2F6-B3F2B3F4-B3F5B3F7-B3F8B3F14
Korean War B3F10B3F15
Kosygin, Alexey B3F13
Ku Klux Klan B3F9
Laos B2F8
Latin America B2F8-B2F9
law and order B1F4B1F6-B1F10
liberty B1F3B3F5
Lincoln, Abraham B2F7
Lindsay, John B3F14
Little Rock B1F3B1F5-B2F5B2F10
Lodge Jr., Henry Cabot B3F7-B3F8
lottery B3F4
Luce, Clare Booth B3F9
Lumumba, Patrice B2F6B2F8
Matthews, J.B. B1F11
McCarthy, Eugene B1F1
McNamara, Robert B2F8B2F11
Mediterranean B1F4
Middle East B1F4
military B1F1B1F3B1F8-B1F9B2F5B2F9B2F11
Mississippi B1F6B3F2B3F4B3F9B3F15
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission B1F6
Morton, Thurston B. B2F6B3F13
motion pictures B3F3
Mudnt, Karl B3F13
Nasser, Gamal Abdel B2F10B3F11
NATO B2F3B3F13B3F15
natural resources B2F8
New Hampshire B3F4B3F7
New York B3F9
Nicklaus, Jack B3F10
Nixon, Richard M. B2F6-B2F7B2F10B3F3B3F7
nuclear weapons B1F2B1F5B2F3-B2F5B2F9B3F4-B3F5
oil B1F5
peace B1F3-B1F4B2F6B2F8-B2F10B3F5B3F14
politicians B2F3
politics B1F4
Pope John XXIII B3F4
poverty B3F12
progress B1F7
prosperity B2F5
Queen Elizabeth II B1F8
religion B1F8B2F6B3F1B3F4B3F8
Republican Nominating Convention B3F8
Republican Party B1F1B1F5B1F9-B1F10B2F6-B2F7B2F9B2F11B3F2B3F7-B3F9B3F12-B3F14
Rhodesia B3F13
Ridgway, Matthew B3F15
Rockefeller, Nelson B2F6B3F8B3F12
Romania B3F8
Romney, George W. B2F11B3F8
rural free delivery B1F4
Rusk, Dean B2F8B3F4
Russia B1F11B2F4-B2F5B2F7B3F1-B3F2B3F4-B3F5B3F8
schools B1F6-B2F5B2F10B3F5B3F14
Scranton, William B3F8
segregation B1F6
Shriver, Sargent B3F12
Smith, Margaret Chase B3F8
social security B2F8
South Africa B2F8
South America B1F3
Soviet Union B1F2B1F4B2F5-B2F9B3F4B3F10B3F13
space exploration B3F1B3F4B3F6B3F10-B3F13
sports B3F10-B3F11
Stalin, Joseph B2F10B3F15
Stevenson, Adlai E. B1F2B2F4B2F7B3F12
stock market B3F1
Suez Canal B1F4-B1F5
Sunday school bombings B3F5
Supreme Court B1F3B1F9B3F1B3F9
Symington, Stuart B2F5
Syria B2F10
taxes B1F2-B1F3B1F11B2F4B3F4B3F7B3F11B3F15
Taylor, Maxwell B2F5
teachers B2F1-B2F3B2F5
television B2F6-B2F9B3F3
Tennessee Valley Authority B1F2
Thant, U. B3F14
Thurmond, Strom B2F11
Tibet B3F10B3F13
U.S. Mail B1F4
Udall, Stewart B3F5
unions B1F10
United Arab Republic B2F10
United Nations B2F5-B2F10B3F4B3F14
University of Arkansas B2F1B2F4
urban renewal B2F4
Vietnam War B3F7B3F9-B3F12B3F14
violence B3F4
voting B1F9B3F6
voting rights B3F10
Walker, Edwin A. B2F10
Wallace, George B3F4-B3F5
war B1F5
weather B3F12
Wilson, Harold B3F9
women B3F1B3F4
Zanzibar B3F7
Zedong, Mao B2F6B3F2B3F7B3F13
Zorin, Valerian B2F8

Access and use

Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Terms of access:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Bill Graham Papers,

Location of this collection:
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Bird Library, Room 600
Syracuse, NY 13244, United States
Contact:
315.443.2697
scrc@syr.edu