Edward Daniel Kuekes (February 2, 1901 – January 13, 1987) was an American

editorial cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curren ...

. Working for the Cleveland, Ohio ''

Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of M ...

'', he won the 1953

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary is one of the fourteen Pulitzer Prizes that is annually awarded for journalism in the United States. It is the successor to the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning awarded from 1922 t ...

. Born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, his family moved to

Berea, Ohio Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio and is a western suburb of Cleveland. The population was 19,093 at the 2010 census. Berea is home to Baldwin Wallace University, as well as the training facility for the Cleveland ...

in 1913. He graduated from

Berea High School Berea High School (BHS) was a high school located in Berea, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1882 and served students in grades nine through 12. Its most recent campus, located immediately east of Baldwin Wallace University, was built in 1 ...

in 1918. After graduating

Baldwin–Wallace College Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace ...

, he studied art at

Cleveland School of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at firs ...

and the

Chicago Academy of Fine Arts The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum an ...

. Early influences on his work were

Gaar Williams Gaar Campbell Williams (December 12, 1880 - June 15, 1935) was a prominent American cartoonist who worked for the ''Indianapolis News'' and the ''Chicago Tribune''. His scenes of horse-and-buggy days in small towns of the Victorian era included s ...

Ding Darling Jay Norwood Darling (October 21, 1876 – February 12, 1962), better known as Ding Darling, was an American cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes. He was an important figure in the 20th century conservation movement and founded the National Wil ...

, and Billy Ireland. His career at the ''Plain Dealer'' began in 1922 as understudy to editorial cartoonist Hal Donahey. Kuekes handled general art chores for the ''Plain Dealer'', such as illustrating news events. Over the years he drew a number of regular features for the paper, including a movie-themed feature called ''Closeups'', an editorial cartoon called ''All in a Week'', and a Sunday feature called ''Cartoonist Looks at the News''. For much of the 1940s, his trademark was a rabbit named "The Kernel", which came from his work as an amateur stage magician. Following Donahey's death in 1949, Kuekes became chief editorial cartoonist of the ''Plain Dealer''. Kuekes won the Pulitzer Prize for a

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

cartoon called "Aftermath". In the cartoon, two soldiers carry a third on a stretcher. One asks "Wonder if he voted?" while the other replies "No, he wasn't old enough." (In the United States, the voting age was not lowered from 21 to 18 until the passage of the 26th Amendment in 1971.) In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Kuekes won three

Freedoms Foundation The Freedoms Foundation is an American non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization, founded in 1949. The foundation is located adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Bill of R ...

medals in 1949, 1950, and 1951, a Silver T-Square in 1953, and a

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organization ...

in 1955. Kuekes also drew a number of comic strips. With writer Olive Ray Scott, he drew the strip '' Alice in Wonderland'' and its accompanying strip '' Knurl the Gnome'' for

United Features Syndicate United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along ...

in 1934. For the ''Plain Dealer'', he drew the Sunday comic strip '' Funny Fables'' from 1935 to 1937 and this work was collected in a 1938 book, ''Funny Fables: Modern Interpretations of Famous Fabulists''. With Steve Freely, he drew the daily panel strip ''Do You Believe'' for the LaFave Newspaper Features from 1955 to 1962. Kuekes died in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

References

External links

Edward D. Kuekes Cartoons
at the Syracuse University library
Lambiek Comiclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuekes, Edward Daniel 1901 births 1987 deaths American editorial cartoonists American comics artists Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners Artists from Pennsylvania School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni