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Herblock's legacy lives on

By LAURA L. HUTCHISON

Date published: 8/31/2006

Editor's note: Laura Hutchison serves on the board of the Herb Block Foundation.

By LAURA L. HUTCHISON

War. The Middle East. Privacy.

They're topics that are in the forefront of people's minds today, but they're also the focus of editorial cartoons drawn as many as 60 years ago by Herbert Block.

Better known by his pen name, Herblock, the four-time Pulitzer Prize winner published his first cartoon in the Chicago Daily News in 1929. He was 19. He went on to spend 55 years at The Washington Post.

Block produced thousands of cartoons over his more than 70-year career.

Now, 32 of those cartoons--along with 24 preliminary sketches--appear in "Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock." The artwork is the featured display in the Library of Congress' "American Treasures" exhibit.

Though the library has showcased Block's work before, this marks the first time the preliminary sketches have been shown there. All of the cartoons in "Enduring Outrage" are first-time inclusions in an exhibition, as well.

"The sketches are really interesting," said Martha Kennedy, who is from the library's Prints and Photographs Division and is co-curator of the exhibit with Sara Duke. "They give a real sense of the creative process."

Block's preparatory sketches were vital to him. After pondering the day's cartoon possibilities, Block would draw up five or so sketches for two or three proposed cartoons and shop them around the newsroom, asking the reporters who covered the issues for their opinions.

"He'd come down and say, 'You got a minute?' And even if you were on deadline, you stopped," said Frank Swoboda, a former Washington Post reporter and the current president of the Herb Block Foundation. "I probably saw him two to three times a week."

Swoboda and others said that they learned after a while that Block put his favorite sketch on the top of the pile. But that didn't sway the reporters, who respected him enough to still offer honest opinions.

After looking at the range of Block's work, Kennedy said she and Duke decided to assemble the exhibit around seven themes: Get Out the Vote, centered around off-year elections; Environment; Ethics; Extremism, especially political; Middle East; Security and Privacy; and War.

"They are themes he addressed throughout his career," Kennedy said. "And they have special relevance and resonance today."

WHAT: 'Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock' WHERE: The Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, Washington WHEN: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, through Jan. 20, 2007 COST: Free PHONE: 202/707-4604 WEB: loc.gov/exhibits

Date published: 8/31/2006