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James Ivey Collection

An inventory of his Collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: –
Date: 16 May 1968

Biographical History

James Burnett Ivey (1925- ), commonly known as Jim Ivey, is an American cartoonist and cartoon historian.

James Ivey was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on April 15, 1925, the son of a college professor. He attended the University of Louisville, George Washington University and the National Art School in Washington, D.C and also pursued correspondence work through Landon School of Illustration and Cartooning. While a Navy submariner from 1943 to 1946, Ivey also drew cartoons.

Ivey began as a layout artist in the engraving department at the Washington Star before he landed a spot in the Star’s editorial art department. In 1953 he left for the St. Petersburg Times, and from 1959 to 1966 Ivey held a cartoonist position at the San Francisco Examiner. Ivey then pursued freelance work until he became a cartoonist with the Orlando Sentinel in 1970 where he stayed until 1977 when he again went back to freelancing. Ivey also spent time teaching the art of cartooning at the University of Central Florida from 1978 to 1983.

Ivey is also well known as a cartoon collector and comics historian. In the 1950s, Ivey received a Reid Fellowship to study political cartooning in Europe and returned to the United States in 1959. In 1967, Ivey opened the Cartoon Museum with items from his own collection and published the quarterly publication cARTtoon. In the 1970s he started the annual Orlandocon convention. Ivey’s interest has spanned all forms of cartooning including comic books and his personal collection of cartoons is international in scope. His writings have appeared regularly in the World of Comic Art, the Comics Journal and Hogan’s Alley and his own work has been included in several books including Thoughts of Man (1975) and his self published retrospective, Cartoons I Liked (2008).

Ivey’s cartoons have been reprinted in other countries though Germany’s Tarantel-Press and were also distributed through the Chicago Tribune and Rotcho syndicates. Ivey was an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists and the National Cartoonists Society and won the NCS’s Silver T-Square Award in 1979.

Jim Ivey currently lives in Orlando, Florida and continues to draw freelance cartoons.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The James Ivey Collection consists of cartoons and printed material.

Cartoons contains 72 original editorial cartoons by Ivey (1951-1971) as well as 60 cartoons by other cartoonists (these include editorial cartoons, comic strips and magazine cartoons from 1892-1969).

Ivey's cartoons primarily address local and state issues in Florida including education and taxes as well as state and federal elections. Of particular interest are two cartoons depicting William Safire, who was hired by the Florida Development Commission in 1967. Generally, few words accompanied his cartoons. Ivey's style featured loose, bold lines and relied heavily on caricature and humor, a style noticeably different from other editorial cartoonists during this period. For example, one cartoon commenting on the rise of automation industry depicted children meeting an automated Santa Claus during Christmastime.

Ivey's cartoons were drawn with pen, ink and blue pencil on paper and illustration board (and some paper affixed to illustration board) and unlike most editorial and political cartoonists during this time he did not use crayon. Some have dot screening attached. Ivey's work for the Orlando Sentinel often contains sticky notes with notations about the size, page and day the cartoon was to be published.

Also included in the collection are original cartoons from other cartoonists that Ivey collected. Heavily represented in Ivey's collection of other cartoonists are cartoonists from other Florida newspapers including Lynn Brudon and Richard Hodgins Sr. Additionally there are several of examples of work from European cartoonists.

Printed material consists of two catalogs, one detailing Ivey's collection of American and international cartoons (from his Cartoon Museum) and a catalog from the 1971 exhibit, "Hogarth to Herblock" at the Lock Haven Art Center.

Arrangement of the Collection

Cartoons drawn by Ivey are arranged in date order. Cartoons by other cartoonists are arranged in alphabetical order by the cartoonist's last name.

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

Cartoonists Eugene Craig, Richard Hodgins, Sr. and Jack Kent who are represented in the James Ivey Collection also have cartoons in other collections at Special Collections Research Center.

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

Brudon, Lynn.
Hodgins, Sr., Richard
Ivey, Jim.
Methfessel, Karl.
Safire, William, 1929-2009 -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Associated Titles

Orlando sentinel.
Orlando star.
San Francisco examiner.

Subjects

American wit and humor, Pictorial.
Caricatures and cartoons -- United States.
Cartoonists -- California -- San Francisco.
Cartoonists -- Florida.
Cartoonists -- United States.
Editorial cartoons -- California.
Editorial cartoons -- Florida.
Editorial cartoons -- United States.
Education -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Taxation -- Caricatures and cartoons.
World politics -- 1945-1989 -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Places

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

Genres and Forms

Cartoons (humorous images)
Catalogs (documents)
Editorial cartoons.

Occupations

Cartoonists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

James Ivey Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of James Ivey, 1967-1970 and 1972.

One 1965 San Francisco Examiner cartoon, gift of Janet Wolfertz, 2013.

One cartoon, gift of Tom Engelhardt, 2023.

Table of Contents

Cartoons

Printed material

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.