Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Batchelor, Clarence Daniel, 1888-1977.
Title:	C. D. Batchelor Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1938-1972
Quantity:	8.5 linear ft.
Abstract:	Approximately 6000, mostly undated, original cartoons, arranged topically.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Clarence Daniel Batchelor (1888-1972), known as C.D. Batchelor, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American editorial cartoonist.

A transplanted Midwesterner, C.D. Batchelor worked for the New York Mail and the New York Journal as a staff artist and occasional political cartoonist before landing his first full-time job as a political cartoonist for the liberal New York Post. In 1931, Batchelor joined the staff of the New York Daily News as its chief editorial cartoonist. In The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons (New York: Gale Research Company, 1980), Richard E. Marshall noted that at first the News supported the New Deal, "but the paper and its cartoonist eventually grew disenchanted with liberalism and bureaucracy....Batchelor's strong cartoons were drawn with irony, a moralizing viewpoint and direction; with labels and captions written on scrolls, they have the appearance of documents. In effect, with his crisp style and strong ideas, they are proclamations in cartoon form."

Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1937, Batchelor, having retired from the News in the early 1970s, wound up his career at the National Review, a journal of the political right.

Between 1963 and 1979, Batchelor and his wife, Allegra, donated over six thousand original cartoons to Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Clarence D. Batchelor Papers comprise one series: Editorial Cartoons. This series is divided by rough topical arrangement into 34 categories, including New York City, Foreign Aid, World War II, the United Nations, and Miscellaneous. Miscellaneous cartoons concern general topics such as lifestyle, health, safety and education.

There are approximately 6000 cartoons drawn in crayon and charcoal. They are stored in packages of about 150 each, varying in size. All cartoons are captioned but most are undated.

Batchelor's cartoons often center on his concerns about post-war repercussions and communist aggression. He portrays these issue with intense graphic images. For example, Batchelor personifies war with a skull-like face superimposed on a woman's body, and depicts communist infiltration in government as a cobra curled around the White House.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has collections of over 150 cartoonists. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

C.D. Batchelor Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of C.D. Batchelor and Mrs. Batchelor, 1968, 1978, 1979.

Artwork by John Noble and a watercolor by Batchelor, gift of anonymous donor, 2010.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: CAK
Date: 26 June 1979
Revision history: 8 Aug 2005 - EAD file created (MRR); 22 Aug 2006 - added full inventory (MRR); 24 May 2011 - added miscellaneous artwork (AM)

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Inventory

	Cartoons
Oversize 1		Armed forces
Oversize 1		Atomic energy
Oversize 2, 3, 4		Cold war
Oversize 5		Cuba
Oversize 5		South America
Oversize 5		Latin America
Oversize 6-9		Economy, Industry, Labor
Oversize 10		Europe
		Executive Office
Oversize 11			Herbert Hoover
Oversize 11			Franklin D. Roosevelt
Oversize 12			Harry S. Truman
Oversize 13			Dwight D. Eisenhower
Oversize 13			John F. Kennedy
Oversize 13			Lyndon B. Johnson
Oversize 14		Far East
Oversize 14		Phillippines
Oversize 15		Foreign aid, trade, and intervention
Oversize 16		Germany, satellite countries
Oversize 17		Great Britain
Oversize 18		India, Near East
Oversize 19		Judicial branch
Oversize 20		Legislation and congressional politics
Oversize 21-24		Miscellaneous
Oversize 25		New York City
Oversize 26		Parties and platforms
Oversize 27		Politicians and elections
Oversize 28		States
Oversize 28		States' rights
Oversize 29		United Nations
Oversize 30-32		World War II

	Miscellaneous artwork
Box 1		Lithograph by John Noble circa 1972 - copy of charcoal drawing of ship and New York City skyline 10" x 13"
Box 1		Watercolor by C.D. Batchelor of Flagstaff, Arizona 2 Mar 1969 - note below signature reads "As Allegra and I saw some of the glories of the Rockies" 12" x 16"

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