A world-class collection of political cartoons and caricatures, spanning from 1690 to 2022, has been generously donated to the UCLA Library by Michael and Susan Kahn. This announcement was made on Tuesday.
The Michael and Susan Kahn Political Cartoon Collection is an extensive assembly of over one million political cartoons and caricatures, consisting of 11,000 drawings, prints, ephemera, bound and unbound periodicals, books, and research materials. It encompasses a wide range of languages (30) and countries (59). This remarkable collection is valued at $4.2 million.
The collection features contributions from numerous highly regarded political cartoon artists. Notably, it includes illustrations by Rollin Kirby, the recipient of the 1929 Pulitzer Prize for his satirical portrayal of New York’s infamous Tammany Hall political machine. The original artwork of this award-winning piece can be found within the collection.
Michael Kahn expressed, “Cartoons, as a form of political discourse, possess the ability to convey a wealth of information and even shape historical events.” He added, “I hope that this collection will serve as a valuable resource for generations of scholars, researchers, and the general public, across various fields.”
Kahn, who obtained his bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA in 1970, co-authored the book “Puck: What Fools these Mortals Be,” which was published in 2014.
In addition to the collection, the Kahns have generously donated $370,000 to the library. This contribution will go towards organizing, describing, and comprehensively cataloging the collection. Furthermore, they have pledged an additional $250,000 to establish a ten-year interdisciplinary education initiative focused on studying graphic arts as a form of political speech. In total, their gift amounts to a staggering $5 million. The funding for this initiative is dedicated to honoring Ginny Steel, the Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian, who will be retiring in December.
Steel, deeply moved by this gesture, expressed her gratitude, stating, “The Kahns’ vision in supporting an education initiative to engage with their remarkable collection of political cartoons is truly extraordinary. I am honored that they chose to recognize my work through this gift.” She further highlighted the significance of this collection, particularly in an era dominated by online political misinformation in the form of memes. Steel emphasized that the collection will aid students in developing critical thinking skills, as well as information and media literacy.
Officials believe that cartoons, as a subject of academic study, can present students with the challenge of deciphering complex meanings embedded in the visual and verbal languages. Moreover, the materials within the collection encourage scholars to explore insights from a range of academic disciplines, such as political science, history, art history, communications, and information studies.
“Cartoons provide a glimpse into the attitudes of past readers, offering nuanced expressions of ideology and sentiment through the fusion of image and text,” explained Christopher Gilman, the library’s digital curriculum program coordinator.
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