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Jack Bender Cartoons

A description of his cartoons at Syracuse University

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Bender, Jack, 1931-
Title: Jack Bender Cartoons
Inclusive Dates: 1962-1968
Quantity: 1 linear ft.
Abstract: 24 original editorial cartoons created for the Waterloo Daily Courier.
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

Jack Bender is an American editorial cartoonist and comic strip artist.

Jack H. Bender was born March 28, 1931 in Waterloo, Iowa. Bender received a BA in journalism from the University of Iowa in 1953 and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri where his thesis was entitled, “Editorial Cartoonists: Development Philosophy Today”. He also spent some time studying at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In St. Louis, Bender worked as art director at the Commerce Publishing Company from 1953 to 1954 and again from 1956 until 1958. He was an editor and cartoonist for the Florissant Reporter (Missouri) from 1958 until 1961. Bender returned to Waterloo, Iowa and became the editorial cartoonist at the Daily Courier in 1962 where he stayed until 1984.

Bender, interested in sports, served as a diving judge from time to time but also drew sports cartoons. He wrote and illustrated sports books and from the mid 1970s until the early 1990s he contributed cartoons to Baseball Digest, Baseball Weekly, Hockey Digest and Football News.

Bender relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma and taught art for a time at Platt College. He moved into comic strips by assisting Don Martin with the strip Nutheads from 1989 until 1992. He began assisting Dave Graue with the drawing of caveman strip Alley Oop and became the strip’s full time artist in 1991. Bender’s wife Carole took over writing Alley Oop in 2001 when Graue retired. As of 2009, the strip appears in over 600 newspapers.

Bender received the Missouri Press Association Best Editorial award in 1960 and a Grenville Clark Editorial Page Award in 1967. In 1971 he received a Freedom Foundation Medal of Honor and in 1981 he was presented with an Air Force Commendation medal. An Orlando Con Ignatz Award was given to Bender in 1992. Bender was a member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and as of 2009 is a member of the National Cartoonists Society.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Jack Bender Cartoons consist primarily of editorial cartoons created for the Waterloo Daily Courier. There are also some clippings and a personal cartoon. Dimensions vary but most are approximately 9 1/2" x 12". The cartoons were drawn on paper with ink, pencil, blue pencil, and zipatone screening. A few cartoons have overlays produced with color marker.

Numbers were assigned during processing for identification purposes; they do not represent the cartoonist's own order, nor do they reflect a thematic or chronological organization.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Series are arranged in alphabetical order by type. Within that, items are in no particular order.

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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

Bender, Jack, 1931-

Corporate Bodies

Waterloo Daily Courier (Waterloo, Iowa)

Subjects

American wit and humor, Pictorial.
Caricatures and cartoons -- United States.
Cartoonists -- United States.
College students -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Editorial cartoons -- Iowa.
Editorial cartoons -- United States.
Political cartoons.
World politics -- 1945-1989 -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Genres and Forms

Cartoons (humorous images)
Clippings (information artifacts)

Occupations

Cartoonists.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Jack Bender Cartoons,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Jack H. Bender, 1966, 1968-1969.

"Get Well" cartoon, gift of David and Adrienne Barnes, 2013.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: -
Date: 4 Jan 1967
Revision history: 8 Aug 2005 - EAD file created (MRR); 8 Sep 2009 - added index, detailed inventory and bio (SK); 4 Feb 2014 - addition M13-128 (MRC)

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Inventory

Cartoons
See below for an index to the cartoons.
Oversize 1 Waterloo Sunday Courier circa 1965; 30 Nov 1967; 3 Dec 1967; 8 Dec 1967; 11 Dec 1967; 9 Sep 1968; 21 May (no year); undated - original artwork for cartoons for the Waterloo Sunday Courier (24 items)
Oversize 1 Personal undated - "Get Well" cartoon drawn for Ray Clark
Gift of David and Adrienne Barnes, 2013.
Clippings
Oversize 1 Waterloo Sunday Courier Nov-Dec, 1967 - published cartoons clipped from the Waterloo Sunday Courier (4 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.

Numbers referred to numbered cartoons in folder 1.

  • boycotts : 6
  • civil rights : 15
  • college students : 5, 12, 18, 21, 22
  • communism : 17
  • corruption : 7, 10, 16
  • Czechoslovakia : 17
  • Democratic National Convention : 19
  • Democratic Party : 3, 10, 19
  • demonstrations : 12, 18
  • draft : 5, 21
  • education : 2, 22
  • federal aid : 2
  • food prices of information : 6
  • Gross, H.R. : 7
  • Humphrey, Hubert : 18
  • Iowa Legislature : 8, 14, 16
  • Iowa : 1
  • John Q. Public : 9
  • juvenile delinquency : 11
  • King Jr., Martin Luther : 15
  • missile secrets : 7
  • Nixon, Richard M. : 19
  • police : 6, 12
  • politicians : 4, 7, 23
  • poverty : 1, 13
  • reapportionment : 14
  • Republican Party : 3, 10
  • secrecy : 8
  • taxes : 9
  • teachers : 1, 21
  • vandalism : 11
  • Vietnam War : 12, 17, 19, 21, 23
  • Wallace, George : 19

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