THE CARTOON COLLECTION OF EDMUND VALTMAN

Finding Aid

Size: 3.0 linear feet

Literary rights:
Literary rights were not granted to Wichita State University. When permission is granted to examine the manuscripts, it is not an authorization to publish them. Manuscripts cannot be used for publication without regard for common law literary rights, copyright laws and the laws of libel. It is the responsibility of the researcher and his/her publisher to obtain permission to publish. Scholars and students who eventually plan to have their work published are urged to make inquiry regarding overall restrictions on publication before initial research.

Restrictions: None

Content note:
The cartoons in the collection of Edmund Valtman were originally submitted to The Hartford Times in Hartford, Connecticut as editorial cartoons. The collection includes cartoons from November 18, 1955 to April 24, 1980. The cartoons are arranged chronologically. The first box contains cartoons dated 1955 to 1962. Cartoons from 1962 on are contained in individual boxes by year. Those cartoons without dates are located at the beginning of the first box.

Biographical note:
Valtman was born May 31, 1914 in Tallinn, Estonia. He attended Tallinn schools, and, following graduation from high school, he studied art in private studios and in the Tallinn Art School. For several years, Valtman was a draftsman, commercial artist and freelance cartoonist for a number of newspapers and magazines. In 1942, he became editorial cartoonist for Tallinn Eesti Sö and Maa Sö.

In September 1944, when Russian troops occupied Estonia, he fled to Germany. Valtman then worked as a cartoonist for the Estonian language newspaper Eesti Post and illustrated several children's books while in DP Camp. He exhibited his paintings in Stuttgart, Geislingen, Oldenburg, Baden-Baden, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

Valtman immigrated to the United States in September 1949. He joined The Hartford Times as editorial cartoonist in 1951, and received the National Safety Council award in 1958. Valtman became an United States citizen in 1959. He received a Pulitzer Prize for cartooning in 1962 and Gannett Newspapers' Frank Tripp Award in 1963.

Valtman has cartoons in college libraries and institutions; Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin, Texas; and in private collections.