Ollie Harrington political cartoons

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: MSS 762

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Ollie Harrington political cartoons consist of 92 color slides of Harrington's political cartoons, with black and white and color access photocopies of the images with their text. The subjects of the political cartoons frequently address racism, poverty, corruption, bourgeoisie, sex and sexism, and exploitation.

Dates

Creation: approximately 1970-1992

Creator

Harrington, Oliver W., 1912-1995 (Oliver Wendell) (Artist, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

The material is stored off site. Please request 3 working days in advance if you wish to use it.

A slide viewer is available in the Special Collections reading room by request.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the authors of the items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. For photocopy and duplication requests, please contact the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections, Michigan State University Libraries.

Biographical / Historical

Oliver ("Ollie") Wendell Harrington (1912-1995) was an African-American political cartoonist. Harrington grew up in New York and began drawing cartoons in response to his racist 6th grade teacher. He served in World War II as a correspondent to Europe and North Africa. His political cartoons criticizing racism and and championing civil rights drew the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the House Un-American Activities Committee. He moved to Paris, France, in 1951 and collaborated closely with other African-American expatriate writers and artists including James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Chester Himes. In 1961, following Richard Wright's possible death by assassination, Harrington moved to East Germany as a political asylum seeker, where he spent the rest of his life.