Herblock's The Long March special exhibit is coming to the Loutit District Library!
January 12 - February 28
January 12 - February 28
The Civil Rights era, from the 1940s through the 1960s, transformed American laws and attitudes. This turbulent time included landmark Supreme Court decisions, dynamic leaders, powerful boycotts, and massive marches.
An outspoken voice of the time, well known in his era but rarely taught today, was political cartoonist of The Washington Post, Herbert Lawrence Block, or "Herblock" for short. The Long March is a powerful piece of history that gives context to the visual criticisms Herblock created for Americans to see in their daily papers.
Who is
“Herblock” became the most honored cartoonist of his time, winning three Pulitzer Prizes, and sharing a fourth for his Watergate cartoons, which contributed to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. He was the only living cartoonist whose work was exhibited in the National Gallery of Art, and the only living cartoonist to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
He caricatured thirteen U.S. presidents, from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush, chronicling American history from the 1929 Stock Market crash through summer 2001. He took on causes with courage and conviction, coined the phrase “McCarthyism,” forced reform, and became the most influential and enduring political cartoonist in American history.
The Civil Rights Movement was one of Herblock’s chief concerns. He illustrated the history and dialogue of this turbulent era in American society. His cartoons show us who we were as Americans, as well as the lessons to be learned from the Civil Rights Movement.
Looking at Herblock’s political cartoons over seven decades, we realize he was one of those people that fought long and hard to make us a better people. Herblock’s cartoons continue to resonate and will speak to us about these crucial events in our history for many generations to come.
Thank you to The Herblock Foundation for sponsoring this exhibit at the Loutit District Library!
All graphics and images are courtesy of The Herblock Foundation.