Collection inventory

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Hy Rosen Cartoons

An inventory of his cartoons at Syracuse University

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Rosen, Hy.
Title: Hy Rosen Cartoons
Inclusive Dates: 1964-1971
Quantity: 4.1 linear ft.
Abstract: 180 original editorial cartoons (1965-1967) and 39 proofs (1964, circa 1970-1971).
Language: Majority in English, one item in French
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

Hy Rosen (1923-2011) was an American editorial cartoonist and sculptor.

Born on February 10, 1923 to Russian immigrants, Hyman Joseph Rosen was an Albany native who studied at the Art Students League in New York City as well as the Chicago Art Institute. In 1945, after service in World War II, Mr. Rosen sought a job with the Albany Times-Union as a photographer (a job he held while in the military) but ended up as the paper's editorial cartoonist, a position he held for more than forty years. During his tenure at the Times Union Rosen fought for cartoonists to have increased creative control over their work. Some of his cartoons appeared under the title "As Hy Rosen Sees It" and these cartoons were syndicated nationally. Rosen retired from the Times Union in 1989 and during the early 1990s his cartoons continued to occasionally appear on Sundays. During this time he also drew a weekly cartoon for the Albany news for WNYT.

He won many awards for his cartooning work, including the Fourth Estate Award from the American Legion in 1980 and three awards from the Freedoms Foundation. In 1966 Rosen was a journalism fellow at Stanford. Two compilations of Rosen cartoons have been published: As Hy Rosen saw it : a collection of penetrating cartoon commentaries as they appeared in the Times Union (1970) and Do they tell you what to draw? : a decade of political cartoons (1980). They have also been included in Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year and From Rocky to Pataki : character and caricatures in New York politics (1998). Rosen was a member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) since its founding in 1957 and served as its president in 1972.

In addition to cartooning, Rosen was an accomplished sculptor working in ceramic and bronze. From 1968 to 1970, Rosen studied sculpture at the State University of New York-Albany. The New York State Police Academy and the New York State Museum are among the organizations that have commissioned works by Rosen and his women veterans memorial can be seen at the Empire State Legislative Plaza in Albany.

Hy Rosen died in February 2011.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Hy Rosen Cartoons consist of 2 series: Cartoons- original artwork and Cartoons- proofs. Cartoons- original artwork contains 180 editorial cartoons drawn by Rosen for the Albany Times-Union from 1965 to 1967. In the corner of some of Rosen's cartoons appears a small figure that acts as a commentator on the events depicted in the cartoon. Although working for a paper in the North, of particular interest are Rosen's cartoons relating to the civil rights movement. Rosen commented on civil rights related murders in the South as well as the connection between activists from the Northeast and events in the South. Also of interest are Rosen's caricatures of dysfunctional New York state government and ousted U.S. Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. of Harlem.

The majority of the cartoons are dated. Rosen worked primarily in brusk and ink and pen and ink on illustration board with some pencil and screening. Notations appear in the borders. The original artwork varies in size, but earlier cartoons are generally 14 1/4" x 20 1/4" while the last year of cartoons are generally 11 1/2" x 13 1/2".

Cartoons- proofs is comprised of 39 proofs of cartoons drawn by Rosen. At the top of most is the title, "As Hy Rosen Sees It". The majority of the proofs are undated but are from approximately 1970-1971. However, 4 proofs bear dates from 1964.

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Arrangement of the Collection

The cartoons and are arranged chronologically with undated items appearing at the end of the series.

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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 one hundred cartoonists. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Powell, Adam Clayton, 1908-1972 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Rosen, Hy.

Associated Titles

Times-Union (Albany, N.Y.)

Subjects

American wit and humor, Pictorial.
Caricatures and cartoons -- United States.
Cartoonists -- New York (State)
Cartoonists -- United States.
Civil rights movements -- United States -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Editorial cartoons -- New York (State) -- Albany.
Editorial cartoons -- United States.
New York (State) -- Politics and government -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Strikes and lockouts -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
World politics -- 1945-1989 -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Genres and Forms

Cartoons (humorous images)
Editorial cartoons.
Proofs (printed matter)

Occupations

Cartoonists.
Sculptors.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Hy Rosen Cartoons,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mr. Hy Rosen, 1967 and 1971.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: RT
Date: Dec 1968
Revision history: 10 Apr 2008 - converted to EAD (AMCon); 9 Oct 2009 - finished inventory, added detailed index and scope (SK); 23 Mar 2011 - updated biography (AM)

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Inventory

Cartoons- original artwork
Oversize 1, Folder 1 1965
Feb 26: "Clean as Mississippi mud!"
Apr 23: There's a sucker born every minute, man!"
May 5: "...And what's more she is prejudiced!"
Aug 26: "Got me another man of the cloth!"
Oct 1: "I swear to God she was coming at me with a knife!"
Oct 13: "Sorry...no room!"
Oct 17: "Agony and the ecstasy"
Dec 2: "C'est moi, le super homme!"
Oversize 1, Folder 2 1966 Jan - Mar
Jan 26: "We've got them cornered!"
Feb 16: "Welcome to Socialist Realism!"
Feb 24: "...Except when you have to bail us out!"
Mar 16: "Don't give me that no, no, no business!"
Mar 30: "Yes, Mr. President, mine are identifiable!"
Oversize 1, Folder 3 1966 Apr - May
Apr 10: The lonliest guy in the world
Apr 15: Now he tells us!"
Apr 24: Cubesville
May 4: Chinese puzzle
May 6: "Filthy pictures?"
May 15: Bulletin: Red Chinese leader, Mao, makes first public appearance since Nov. 26
May 16: "Would you believe...half past next year?"
Oversize 1, Folder 4 1966 Jun
Jun 3: "Nice to have a soft landing!"
Jun 16: Nothing scared
Jun 17: "Show me the way to go home..."
Jun 19: "I trust you enjoyed the sermon!"
Jun 20: "They're conducting a teach-in at the university!"
Jun 21: Apartheid
Jun 22: "For our final act..."
Jun 23: Closing in...
Jun 24: Faisal's two way salute
Jun 26: "No charge for alternations!"
Jun 27: "Like they say in the trade, 'fasten your seat belt!'"
Jun 28: Heat or light?
Jun 29: The moment of truth
Oversize 1, Folder 5 1966 Jul
Jul 1: "Cheer up, you're just in time for Medicare!"
Jul 1: Target
Jul 7: "Man, that's progress!"
Jul 8: "Will this be 'IN' in November?"
Jul 10: "Geneva Convention...Who's she?"
Jul 11: "...And I got the halo to prove it!"
Jul 12: A Midsummer Night's dream
Jul 13: "And you better believe it!"
Jul 13: Track and field
Jul 15: "Carry me back to old Virginy..."
Jul 17: Rorschach test
Jul 18: Front line, U.S.A.
Jul 26: "Help!"
Jul 27: "Now, if he'd show a humanitarian policy in this direction!"
Jul 28: "I've worked too hard...you try broom power!"
Jul 31: "I understand you've been known to have a drop..."
Oversize 2, Folder 1 1966 Aug 2-15
Aug 2: "They just told us where to go!"
Aug 3: "The boy was only making use of his constitutional rights!"
Aug 4: The great 'lip' forward
Aug 6: "Just eloped!"
Aug 7: "Hush, now, we haven't lost a daughter, we've gained a Democrat!"
Aug 9: "It will never fly!"
Aug 10: "We try to run a respectable house!"
Aug 11: "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your open housing down!"
Aug 12: "No, no, the idea is to get him to push you in!"
Aug 15: "Due to minor difficulties..."
Oversize 2, Folder 2 1966 Aug 18-31
Aug 18: But no brain power
Aug 19: "Fly now, pay later"
Aug 22: "The tighter he gets...the bigger his hangover!"
Aug 23: "And it makes you feel like a mini!"
Aug 24: "Yeah, yeah, yeah...."
Aug 25: The fountain of youth
Aug 26: "My friends...?"
Aug 28: "What's a mother to do?"
Aug 30: "Give 'em hell, Harry!"
Aug 31: Platform
Oversize 2, Folder 3 1966 Sep
Sep 1: "War is hell!"
Sep 2: "Now there is 1-A material!"
Sep 4: "It isn't your shoes I'm worried about filling, it's the big hole!"
Sep 5: "Now that the new minimum is $1.60, do you think..."
Sep 8: For better or for worse
Sep 8: "What's in a name?--Eh Franklin--I mean Frank"
Sep 11: Long distance stroke
Sep 12: "Man I just want to cool it!"
Sep 13: The right to vote
Sep 14: Walk through space
Oversize 2, Folder 4 1966 Dec
Dec 15: "Copy"
Dec 16: Legacy
Dec 18: "We cannot escape history"....Lincoln"
Dec 19: "Critics to the left of me, critics to the right of me. Now I know how Gen. Custer felt!"
Dec 20: "It's aimed at the U.S.A. by way of Peking!"
Dec 21: "The bigger they are... the harder they fall!"
Dec 22: "God Bless Us Everyone!" said tiny U Thant, the last of all
Dec 23: "Look...it's possible!"
Dec 25: "Yes, Sgt. Campos you belong to us all"
Dec 26: "Like I said, let 100 flowers bloom"
Dec 27: "He ain't heavy mister he's my brother!"
Dec 28: "It's only when the going has been rough..."
Dec 29: "I beg your pardon...happy...what?"
Oversize 3, Folder 1 1967 Jan
Jan 1: "Do not forsake me, oh, my darlin'..."
Jan 17: Desert Rat
Jan 18: "Like some guy said..."We'll bury you!">
Jan 19: "Who knows some good may come of it!">
Jan 20: Confucius say: Mao got wrong slant!
Jan 22: "What's it mean...he's reading humpty dumpty?"
Jan 26: Air pollution
Jan 29: "Let's face it. Yeuuuck!
Jan 31: Booster
Oversize 3, Folder 2 1967 Feb
Feb 1: "Welcome to Interstate pig-sty!"
Feb 2: "Keep the faith, baby!"
Feb 3: "It looks like a long hard winter..."
Feb 5: "They're breaking up, that old gang of mine!">
Feb 6: "Gummy is a watchdog that will lick 'em!"
Feb 8: No place to build a nest
Feb 9: "It's his new record 'keep the mouth shut baby!"
Feb 12: "P-s-s-s-t.. J. Edgar Hoover sent me!"
Feb 14: The year of the goat
Feb 15: "I'm here to protect you from the criminals!"
Feb 16: "Are there any funds available for Sat. night dates?"
Feb 19: "And please make everybody work together so that our neighborhood will be safe!"
Feb 21: "It's a rough neighborhood!"
Feb 22: "Scab!"
Feb 23: "Keep the faith, baby!"
Feb 26: Morality- Feb 1967
Feb 28 "Sacred cow!"
Oversize 3, Folder 3 1967 Mar
Mar 2: Meridan Revisited
Mar 5: "Now... keep your eye on the bunny!"
Mar 7: "Now I know why they cal it selective service act!"
Mar 8: "I shall return!"
Mar 12: "Thanks!"
Mar 14: "Let them eat crow!"
Mar 16: "Gentlemen, this isn't a penny ante riverboat game!"
Mar 19: "Hey boss, hold my end while I take care of some business!"
Mar 22: "Hoy..need a new image?"
Mar 26: "I sure would like to build 'em a new home!"
Mar 29: "You can play on my team anytime!"
Oversize 3, Folder 4 1967 Apr
Apr 2: The not so white knight
Apr 5: "Goodnight Chet...Chet...Chet...this is a recording"
Apr 6: "Don't you know there is a constitutional convention here"
Apr 7: "Who's the law around here?"
Apr 9: "P-S-S-s-T you're off target!"
Apr 12: "Don't give me that manana routine!"
Apr 13: "And send us more light than heat!"
Apr 14: "The score is powell 9, opponents 1!"
Apr 16: "It's a new ball of wax!"Apr 13:
Apr 17: "Good night Jack, good night Storrs"
Apr 19: "Man, you turn me on!"
Apr 20: untitled
Apr 21: "He's getting a lot of mileage for a slow poke!"
Apr 23: Never underestimate the power of a woman
Apr 25: Rendezvous
Apr 26: Death Row Reprieve
Apr 27: "Welcome to Washington combat zone!"
Apr 28: "I think it's a Greek tragedy!"
Apr 30: The new champion
Oversize 3, Folder 5 1967 May
May 1: "It's our new leader and the face is familiar!"
May 2: "Let my people go!"
May 3: The master of suspense at work
May 4: Splashdown
May 5: "Right in the schoolhouse door- where have I seen that?
May 7: "To the guillotine!"
May 9: Terminal
May 16: "Learn, baby, learn!"
May 17: "He's gone 'hippie' on us!"
May 18: Gun boat diplomacy
May 26: Souvenir
May 28: "Yes, it stands for and on something!"
May 30: Guardians of liberty
Oversize 3, Folder 6 1967 Jun
Jun 13: "Was that trip necessary?"
Jun 14: New battlefield
Jun 15: "It's your honor!"
Jun 16: "What in Dodd's name are you doing out there?"
Jun 18: "My technique is the soft shoe!"
Jun 20: "Another 'peace loving' delegate heard from!"
Jun 22: "Nothing like a little oil to make it slide"
Jun 23: "Anyone call for a wiseman?"
Jun 25: "Yes sir...8 lbs. 10 ozs. and his future is up to us!"
Jun 28: "...and then there is Hanoibush!"
Oversize 3, Folder 7 1967 Jul
Jul 13: untitled (dancer held on top of a man's hand)
Jul 30: Mid-Summer in Capitaland's Music
Oversize 3, Folder 8 circa 1967-1968
Vintage '66
"Funny how that number keeps coming up!"
"Are you ready to test drive a '68 vote getter?"
Spirit of '67
"Imagine, t he nut wants Arabs to sit down and talk peace with Israel"
It's that bloomin' time of the year
[Lost soul, Lawn birds, lady from Broadway, Celebrity manager]
Cartoons - proofs - Title listed at top: "As Hy Rosen See It"
Box 1 1964
Feb 23
Apr 3
May 15
Jun 28
Box 1 circa 1970-1971 (35 items)

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Index to cartoons

The following is a list of predominant people, places and subjects appearing in the editorial cartoons in this collection. The list is not exhaustive. Some subjects may require you to browse with alternative terms.

B= Box, F= Folder. For example: B1F1= Box 1 Folder 1.

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