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Neg Cochran Cartoons

An inventory of his cartoons at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: [Summit record]
Date: 1993-07-09

Biographical History

Negley W. Cochran (1913-2001), commonly known as Neg Cochran, was an American cartoonist. He is most noted for the work he did on the long-running newspaper comic strip Out Our Way.

Cochran was an assistant to J. R. Williams, originator of the strip Out Our Way, and took over the strip after Williams' death in 1957. Out Our Way began in 1922 and ran until 1977 (after Cochran, it was taken over by Walt Wetterberg, Paul Gringle and others). At its height Out Our Way was syndicated in more than 700 newspapers.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Neg Cochran Cartoons collection contains 570 original daily cartoon panels and 22 original Sunday cartoons from the newspaper comic strip Out Our Way (1966-1968). Daily cartoon panel: traces of graphite, opaque white, pasteovers, pen and ink on illustration board, approx. 12 ¼ x 13 ¼ in. Sunday cartoon: traces of graphite, opaque white, pasteovers, pen and ink on illustration board, approx. 18 ¼ x 26 in.

Although they have no specific panel title, a number of the captions are repeated as necessary to the action taking place. Oft repeated captions are "Why mothers are gray," "The worry wart," and "Grampaw." The single panels concern the trials, tribulations, frustrations and triumphs of a family of grandparents, parents, and children—growing boys and an older sister—and of course a family dog. Most concern widely-recognizable situations such as the return of a college son complete with disorganized baggage, guitar, no money and a beard.

Note that the Sunday version has the subtitle "The Willets" (sometimes spelled "Willits"). Also, three of the Sunday cartoons bear the triple signatures of Neg Cochran, J.R. Williams and Walt Wetterberg, and several of the daily cartoons from 1968 are signed by Paul Gringle (see detailed inventory below).

Arrangement of the Collection

Daily and Sunday cartoons are arranged separately in chronological order.

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.

Related Material

See also the Walt Wetterberg Cartoons collection for additional material related to the comic strip Out Our Way.

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

Subject Headings

Persons

Cochran, Negley W.
Gringle, Paul.
Wetterberg, Walt.
Williams, James Robert, 1888-1957

Corporate Bodies

Newspaper Enterprise Association.

Associated Titles

Out our way (comic strip)
The Willets (comic strip)

Subjects

American wit and humor, Pictorial.
Caricatures and cartoons -- United States.
Cartoonists -- United States.
Comic books, strips, etc. -- United States.

Genres and Forms

Cartoons (humorous images)

Occupations

Cartoonists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Neg Cochran Cartoons,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Table of Contents

Out Our Way

Inventory