19th-Century Cartoonist Nast Vying For N.J. Hall of Fame

By: E&P Staff Thomas Nast, a 19th-century cartoonist often considered the "Father of the American Cartoon," is being considered for the New Jersey Hall of Fame, according to Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoonist's Index.

A one-time resident of Morristown, N.J., Nast is among those being touted for the hall of fame that includes presidents Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson, jazz legend Count Basie, actor Jack Nicholson and others.

"Nast's drawings were instrumental in the downfall of Boss Tweed, who so feared Nast's cartoons that he unsuccessfully attempted to bribe the cartoonist to stop," Cagle wrote. "Tweed said famously, 'Stop them damn pictures! I don't care what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see the pictures!'"