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Hy Rosen Cartoons

An inventory of his cartoons at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: RT
Date: Dec 1968

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.

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.

Arrangement of the Collection

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

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

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.

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.

Table of Contents

Cartoons- original artwork

Cartoons - proofs

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.