"Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock," the featured display in the "American Treasures of the Library of Congress" exhibition, will remain on view through Jan. 20, 2007, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday, in the Southwest Gallery of the Thomas Jefferson Building. The presentation features approximately 40 original cartoon drawings by the Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Herbert Block (left), better known as Herblock.
The Herblock exhibition's main section, "Get Out the Vote," chronicles elections from 1946 to 1998 and comments on Democratic and Republican presidential administrations during the same time period. Other sections of the display highlight six major themes of enduring importance to Herblock that continue to resonate in American society today: environment, ethics, extremism, the Middle East, privacy-security and war.
Left, "Out, Damned 'Spots'!" Oct. 6, 1970. The more things change, the more they stay the same: Herblock uses a quote from Macbeth to rail against negative campaign ads—a new phenomenon in 1970, but still with us in 2006; center, Uncle Sam is bogged down in a quagmire of doubt during the Vietnam War, Jan. 28, 1968; right, "Explain slowly, what does he need all those weapons for, and why does he need nuclear reactors?" Oct. 7, 1974. Herblock questioned the policy of the Ford administration (carried out here by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger) of supplying the oil-rich Shah of Iran with nuclear energy technology. More than 30 years later, a very different Iranian regime is in the news with its nuclear plans.
When he died in October 2001, Block left the bulk of his estate to create the Herb Block Foundation to carry on his life's work of championing the cause of social justice. In 2003 the foundation donated the Herbert L. Block archives of editorial cartoons to the Library of Congress, where they are available to both scholars and the general public.
In addition to 14,000 original drawings and more than 50,000 preparatory sketches, the collection includes voluminous files of records, correspondence, clippings and photographs. The donation also provides for display of portions of the collection.
Left, "This will make him a fine useful animal," July 20, 1961. Herblock was a tireless crusader for civil liberties—and against government invasion of personal privacy; center, a cartoon from 1976 chides congressional reluctance to police itself; right, the cartoonist comments on separation of church and state in 1985.
This exhibition will mark the debut in a Library of Congress exhibition of Herblock's rough sketches for finished drawings. An online version of the exhibition joins several previous Library exhibitions of Herblock's work at www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/herblock-home.html.
Herblock (1909-2001) was one of the most influential political commentators and editorial cartoonists in American history. His work reflects a daily newspaper career that spanned much of the 20th century. From the stock market crash in 1929 to the new millennium, Herblock chronicled the major social and political events of the nation and the world, summarizing issues in a single 4-by-6-inch drawing that had taken others thousands of words to explain. Herblock spent the last 55 years of his career as the editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post.
Left and center, In cartoons from 1955 and 1977, below, the cartoonist portrays government guardian angels as corrupt bats, and shows the results of the workings of various data collection agencies on individual privacy; right, the budget deficit looms large in 1986.
