NEWS RELEASE
May 12, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joan Stack (573) 882-9368
COLUMBIA, MO—The artistry and social commentary of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Daniel Fitzpatrick will be on display in the North-South Gallery of The State Historical Society of Missouri beginning on June 6, 2009, in “Wall Street and Main Street”: Editorial Cartoons on the Economic Crisis of the 1930s from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The exhibit demonstrates Fitzpatrick’s talents and the continued relevance of his work through more than 40 cartoons documenting political and social milestones of the depression era.
Born in Superior, Wisconsin, at the turn of the twentieth century, Daniel “Fitz” Fitzpatrick was a classically trained artist who was not afraid to use his lithographic crayon against any person, place, or event that he saw trampling the average American. Fitz ridiculed presidents and other politicians, took aim at Nazis, pressed for equal rights, and during the 1930s reflected the truth of the Great Depression for readers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He depicted the “Hooverville” shantytowns that plagued St. Louis and the rest of the country, and viewers could read in the faces of his characters the economic hardships brought to bear on both financial elites and “main street” America.
“In his dark, brooding drawings, [Fitz] made the pain felt by so many people almost palpable—the psychological, the sociological, and the economic pain,” said fellow former Post-Dispatch editorial cartoonist Tom Engelhardt, who took inspiration from Fitzpatrick’s work as a young man. “It was this sensitivity and honesty that infused his works and led to his being called ‘the dean of American editorial cartoonists,’ a title he carried for many years. It was his visual commentaries that added to the [Post’s] reputation as a powerful force working on behalf of the poor and downtrodden.”
“Wall Street and Main Street” will be on display through October 3, 2009. The State Historical Society of Missouri is located in Ellis Library at the intersection of Hitt Street and Lowry Mall on the University of Missouri campus, with parking available in three nearby garages.
About The State Historical Society of Missouri
Founded in 1898 by the Missouri Press Association and a trustee of the state since 1899, the Society is the preeminent research facility for the study of the Show Me State’s heritage and a leader in programming designed to share that heritage with the public. Through educational outreach, such as the Missouri History Speakers’ Bureau and genealogy workshops, or the performing arts, like MoHiP Theatre, the Society not only brings Missouri history to the state’s citizens, but also gives Missourians the tools to uncover the history in their own lives.