Herblock: A Political Cartoonist - History, Cartoons, Civil Rights, McCarthyism,
- Duration: 56:43
- Updated: 01 Oct 2014
Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock (October 13, 1909 -- October 7, 2001), was an American editorial cartoonist and author best known for his commentary on national domestic and foreign policy from a liberal perspective.
Block was born in Chicago to a Catholic mother, Theresa Lupe Block, and a father of Jewish descent, David Julian Block, a chemist and electrical engineer. Herb was the youngest of three boys. His brother Rich became president of an industrial laundry and his brother Bill was a newspaper reporter for the Chicago Tribune and later for the Chicago Sun. Herb Block started drawing at a precocious age, began taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago when he was eleven. He adopted the "Herblock" signature in high school. After graduating in 1927, he attended Lake Forest College for almost two years. Block moved to Cleveland in 1933 to become the staff cartoonist for Newspaper Enterprise Association, a feature syndicate that distributed his cartoons nationally. He won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1942, then spent two years in the Army doing cartoons and press releases. Upon his discharge Block was hired as the chief editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post, working there until his death 55 years later.[2] His personal assistant for 44 years was Jean Rickard, who was Executive Director of The Herb Block Foundation for its first 10 years. He never married, and, in the Post's employee index, he listed his address and place of residence as simply "The Washington Post."
While in high school and then in college he began drawing some cartoons for the Evanston News-Index, mainly for the pleasure of being published. Toward the end of his second year at Lake Forest, he took some of these published cartoons and some unpublished ones to the Chicago Daily News hoping to get a summer job. The editor who looked at them said they would get in touch if they had anything. A few days later they phoned and asked Block to come in. An editorial page cartoonist was leaving the city and they could give him a try. He started Monday and never went back to school.
When Herb Block died in October 2001, he left $50 million with instructions to create a foundation to support charitable and educational programs that help promote and sustain the causes he championed during his 72 years of cartooning. The Herb Block Foundation awarded its first grants and the annual Herblock Prize in editorial cartooning in 2004.[3] The Herb Block Foundation is committed to defending the basic freedoms guaranteed all Americans, combating all forms of discrimination and prejudice and improving the conditions of the poor and underprivileged through the creation or support of charitable and educational programs with the same goals. The Foundation is also committed to improving educational opportunities to deserving students through post-secondary education scholarships and to promoting editorial cartooning through continuing research. All efforts of the Foundation shall be in keeping with the spirit of Herblock, America's great cartoonist and his lifelong fight against abuses by the powerful.
January 27 2014, a new documentary, Herblock: The Black & The White, executive produced by George Stevens Jr., produced and directed by his son, Michael Stevens, and co-written by Stevens and Sara Lukinson, will premiere on HBO. The documentary interviews Jon Stewart, Lewis Black, Tom Brokaw, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Jules Feiffer, Ted Koppel and Ben Bradlee as witnesses to Block's life, work and indelible contribution to American satire.
His first cartoon appeared in the Chicago Daily News on April 24, 1929. It advocated the conservation of America's forests. Herblock said that his family was conservative and that his father voted for Herbert Hoover in 1928. But with the onset of the Great Depression, he became a supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. He pointed out the dangers of Soviet aggression, the growing Nazi menace, and
http://wn.com/Herblock_A_Political_Cartoonist_-_History,_Cartoons,_Civil_Rights,_McCarthyism,
Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock (October 13, 1909 -- October 7, 2001), was an American editorial cartoonist and author best known for his commentary on national domestic and foreign policy from a liberal perspective.
Block was born in Chicago to a Catholic mother, Theresa Lupe Block, and a father of Jewish descent, David Julian Block, a chemist and electrical engineer. Herb was the youngest of three boys. His brother Rich became president of an industrial laundry and his brother Bill was a newspaper reporter for the Chicago Tribune and later for the Chicago Sun. Herb Block started drawing at a precocious age, began taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago when he was eleven. He adopted the "Herblock" signature in high school. After graduating in 1927, he attended Lake Forest College for almost two years. Block moved to Cleveland in 1933 to become the staff cartoonist for Newspaper Enterprise Association, a feature syndicate that distributed his cartoons nationally. He won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1942, then spent two years in the Army doing cartoons and press releases. Upon his discharge Block was hired as the chief editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post, working there until his death 55 years later.[2] His personal assistant for 44 years was Jean Rickard, who was Executive Director of The Herb Block Foundation for its first 10 years. He never married, and, in the Post's employee index, he listed his address and place of residence as simply "The Washington Post."
While in high school and then in college he began drawing some cartoons for the Evanston News-Index, mainly for the pleasure of being published. Toward the end of his second year at Lake Forest, he took some of these published cartoons and some unpublished ones to the Chicago Daily News hoping to get a summer job. The editor who looked at them said they would get in touch if they had anything. A few days later they phoned and asked Block to come in. An editorial page cartoonist was leaving the city and they could give him a try. He started Monday and never went back to school.
When Herb Block died in October 2001, he left $50 million with instructions to create a foundation to support charitable and educational programs that help promote and sustain the causes he championed during his 72 years of cartooning. The Herb Block Foundation awarded its first grants and the annual Herblock Prize in editorial cartooning in 2004.[3] The Herb Block Foundation is committed to defending the basic freedoms guaranteed all Americans, combating all forms of discrimination and prejudice and improving the conditions of the poor and underprivileged through the creation or support of charitable and educational programs with the same goals. The Foundation is also committed to improving educational opportunities to deserving students through post-secondary education scholarships and to promoting editorial cartooning through continuing research. All efforts of the Foundation shall be in keeping with the spirit of Herblock, America's great cartoonist and his lifelong fight against abuses by the powerful.
January 27 2014, a new documentary, Herblock: The Black & The White, executive produced by George Stevens Jr., produced and directed by his son, Michael Stevens, and co-written by Stevens and Sara Lukinson, will premiere on HBO. The documentary interviews Jon Stewart, Lewis Black, Tom Brokaw, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Jules Feiffer, Ted Koppel and Ben Bradlee as witnesses to Block's life, work and indelible contribution to American satire.
His first cartoon appeared in the Chicago Daily News on April 24, 1929. It advocated the conservation of America's forests. Herblock said that his family was conservative and that his father voted for Herbert Hoover in 1928. But with the onset of the Great Depression, he became a supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. He pointed out the dangers of Soviet aggression, the growing Nazi menace, and
- published: 01 Oct 2014
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