Nelson Harding (October 31, 1879 – December 30, 1944) 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 ...

for the ''

Brooklyn Daily Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

''. He won the annual

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 ...

in both 1927 and 1928, and as of 2020 was the only cartoonist honored in consecutive years.

Early life and education

Harding was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He attended

Greenwich Academy Greenwich Academy is an independent, college-preparatory day school for girls in Greenwich, Connecticut. Founded in 1827, it is the oldest girls' school in Connecticut. Greenwich Academy's motto is ''Ad Ingenium Faciendum,'' "Toward the Building o ...

the Chase School The Chase School is a secondary school (ages 11–18) in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. The school opened as a Secondary Modern in 1953 under headteacher Mr Garth. It was officially opened by Lord Cobham on 26 March 1955. The Chase became a ...

, the Art Students League of New York, and the New York School of Art. While at the Chase School, he was instructed by

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

.Cooper, S. W. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 30 August 1925. Newspaper article. 25 October 2020.

Career

In 1898, Harding served in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

with the

United States Volunteers United States Volunteers also known as U.S. Volunteers, U.S. Volunteer Army, or other variations of these, were military volunteers called upon during wartime to assist the United States Army but who were separate from both the Regular Army and the ...

and 71st New York Infantry Regiment. In 1901, he was promoted to sargent under Major J.H. Wells. Harding started working for the ''

'' in 1908, where he became a successful cartoonist. Harding received a Pulitzer Prize in 1927 for "Toppling The Idol", of which he depicted the "passive effect of the League of Nations" when dealing with the war. He used the images of David and Goliath.Harding, Nelson. "1927 Award about Conflict and Problem Solving in 1926 and 1927." Fischer, Heinz-Dietrich. Editorial Cartoon Awards 1922-1997. New York: Universal Press Syndicate and Sheed & Ward INC, 1999. 89-96. Book. The particular cartoon cited in 1928, "May His Shadow Never Grow Less", was a tribute drawn at the end of the 1927 calendar year to flier

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

, it was for the flight across the Mexico America border to improve the relations between the two countries. The Christmas-themed cartoon was published at the very end of 1927 and was eligible for Pulitzer consideration in 1928. His work was often politically conservative by the standards of his day. He took a leading role in opposition to what some New Yorkers considered to be a threat from

Bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, ...

in the late 1910s, during the so-called

First Red Scare The First Red Scare was a period during the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of far-left movements, including Bolshevism and anarchism, due to real and imagined events; real events included the R ...

. His cartoons portrayed political radicals as bomb-throwers and

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

Pulitzer Prizes

"Toppling the Idol"

For his cartoon that was published on September 19, 1926, Harding won the

in 1927 with his cartoon "Toppling the Idol."“5-6. Toppling the Idol.” The Lines Are Drawn: American Life since the First World War as Reflected in the Pulitzer Prize Cartoons, by Gerald W. Johnson, Lippincott, 1958, pp. 48–59. It depicts a group representing the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

dragging the statue of

Mars (mythology) In ancient Roman religion and myth, Mars ( la, Mārs, ) was the god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and was pre-eminent among the Roman army's milita ...

off its pedestal.

"May His Shadow Never Grow Less"

Published on December 15, 1927, the 1927

winner depicts the

Charles A. Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

flight from New York to Paris in a single-engine plane. The religious symbol on the ground with the words "Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men" was inspired by the approaching

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

season.

Gallery

References

External links

*
Works by Nelson Harding
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Nelson American editorial cartoonists Brooklyn Eagle Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners Artists from New York City 1879 births 1944 deaths