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Hugh M. Hutton Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: –
Date: Jul 1967

Biographical History

Hugh M. Hutton (1897-1976) was an American editorial cartoonist who worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer for over 30 years.

Hugh McMillen Hutton was born on December 11, 1897 in Lincoln, Nebraska and grew up with an artistic mother. After attending the University of Minnesota for two years, Hutton enlisted in the armed forces and served in World War I. Hutton pursued coursework in art through correspondence school, the Minneapolis School of Art and the Art Students League.

Hutton found some success with a feature, Nutty Natural History and moved to New York City. He worked at the New York World from 1930 to 1932 and with the United Features Syndicate in 1932 and 1933, drawing illustrations and comic strips. Hutton relocated to Philadelphia and worked as the cartoonist at the Public Ledger in 1933 and 1934. He became the Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial cartoonist in April 1934.

Hutton held membership in several professional organizations including the National Cartoonists Society, the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, the National Press Club, and the Philadelphia Sketch Club. The National Safety Council recognized Hutton's work with awards in 1951, 1954, 1957 and 1961. He was also awarded several times by Freedoms Foundation and he received a Christopher Award.

Hugh M. Hutton retired from the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1969 and died on January 2, 1976 following a stroke. The Hugh Hutton Award for Intaglio is presented to artists by the American Color Print Society at its annual members’ exhibition.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Hugh M. Hutton Papers are divided into two series: Work by Hutton and Work by Others. Both consist primarily of original artwork.

Work by Hutton (1932-1970) contains approximately 3,868 pieces of original artwork for editorial cartoons. Nearly all of the cartoons were drawn for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1932 to 1970. Most date from 1952 to 1969. About 126 items are undated.

Hutton’s cartoons frequently depict issues of importance to the Philadelphia metropolitan area as well as the activities of the Pennsylvania State Legislature including work to revise the state constitution. Local issues receiving frequent coverage are public transportation and the Delaware River Valley. Unlike many other editorial cartoonists, Hutton rarely drew caricatures of presidents although presidents and their policies are heavily represented. Hutton also invoked the words of figures Ben Franklin, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln while commenting on current events. In addition to recurring characters representing the American taxpayer, Hutton uses a robed woman to depict virtues like peace and truth and John Straphanger to represent a typical public transportation commuter.

Single sheets of paper with information about cartoons not located in this collection and who Hutton sent them to are interspersed throughout the collection of original artwork as well as in the folder of notes. The series also contains clippings of Hutton's work, four negative proofs, a pencil sketch and miscellaneous notes.

Hutton’s original artwork varies in size, generally working at a smaller scale as his tenure at the Inquirer progressed. Hutton’s artwork was drawn almost exclusively in crayon (with traces of pencil visible); however his later cartoons feature some details in ink, primarily lettering. Works were produced on coquille illustration board. Cartoons from 1932 bear a notice from the World Feature Syndicate.

The bulk of the Work by others series is clippings of cartoons by other editorial cartoonists from the 1950s. Most of the items bear a stamp with a date and the name of the Philadelphia Inquirer, possibly indicating that the cartoon was also published in the Inquirer. The majority of these clippings of are cartoons by L.D. Warren of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Also in this series are two pieces of original artwork by cartoonist Pierre Bellocq about Algeria and also the European common market.

Arrangement of the Collection

Cartoons are arranged chronologically with undated cartoons filed in alphabetical order by caption. Clippings of work by other cartoonists are filed alphabetically by artist.

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

Special Collections Research Center has collections of over one hundred cartoonists including some of the artists represented in the Works by Others series. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.

Subject Headings

Persons

Castro, Fidel, 1926- -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Hutton, Hugh McMillen, 1897-1976.
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Corporate Bodies

Democratic Party (U.S.) -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) -- Caricatures and cartoons.
United Nations -- Caricatures and cartoons.
United States. Congress. -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Subjects

World politics -- 1945-1989 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
American wit and humor, Pictorial.
Caricatures and cartoons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Caricatures and cartoons -- United States.
Cartoonists -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Cartoonists -- United States.
Civil rights movements -- United States -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Cold War -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Communism -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Crime -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Economics -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Editorial cartoons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Editorial cartoons -- United States.
Elections -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Nuclear weapons -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Taxation -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Transportation -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Places

United States -- Politics and government -- 1933-1945 -- Caricatures and cartoons.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989 -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Genres and Forms

Cartoons (humorous images)
Clippings (information artifacts)
Editorial cartoons.
Proofs (printed matter)
Sketches.

Occupations

Cartoonists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Hugh M. Hutton Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Hugh M. Hutton, 1964 and 1970.

Table of Contents

Work by Hutton

Work by Others

Index to cartoons

Inventory

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.