Ralph Yoes Cartoon Collection
Collection Summary
| Title: | Ralph Yoes Cartoon Collection |
| Call Number: | MS 98-02 |
| Size: | 2 linear feet |
| Acquisition: | Purchase, 1972 |
| Processed by: | KE, 10-26-1997 |
| Restrictions: | None |
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.
Content Note
The Ralph Yoes Cartoon Collection contains 45 editorial cartoons which he drew for The San Diego Evening Tribune between the years 1969 and 1972. Mr. Yoes was the Tribune's editorial cartoonist from 1967 to 1985. The collection is organized chronologically, placing the undated cartoon at the end. Those cartoons with no title were listed as Untitled, with a brief description of the cartoon or an assigned title placed in parentheses.
Biographical Note
Throughout the years, Ralph Yoes’ editorial cartoons consistently dealt with two themes--advancement of the democratic ideals of equality on which the United States had been founded; and compassion for the working class and society’s underdogs, especially the victims of tragedy or injustice. Quite possibly, Mr. Yoes’ sympathy for the underdog came from his early years, a childhood spent growing up in an orphanage and his teenage years working as an acrobat in a traveling carnival. Somehow, at this time, he managed to acquire a substantial education on his own. During World War II, the young Ralph Yoes (in his twenties) served as a combat infantry officer in the South Pacific. He and his men directed the Marine dive bomber attacks on the island of New Georgia in the Solomons. A severe injury from a later battle put him on disability.
After the war, he took classes at the Art Students League in New York. He then went to work at The New York Daily News and the evening paper. Returning to his native state, he hired on at The Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City as a staff artist. There he became close friends with Jack Murphy, the Daily Oklahoman’s sports columnist. When Mr. Murphy joined the sports staff of The San Diego Union, he recommended that the paper fill its opening for a political cartoonist with his friend, Ralph Yoes. From 1952 to 1967, Mr. Yoes worked as the political cartoonist for the Union, before moving over to The San Diego Evening Tribune. For the next eighteen years, he was the Tribune’s editorial cartoonist, until medical problems forced him to retire in 1985.
His cartoons were periodically printed in other newspapers and news magazines, and several U.S. presidents asked for Ralph Yoes originals. The Tribune Travel Section printed a series of his watercolors. He is the four time recipient of the Freedoms Foundation Award for 1952, 1954, 1955, and in 1956 the George Washington honor medal. The prestigious Christopher Literary Award bronze medal was bestowed on Mr. Yoes in 1955. And the Lincoln National Life Foundation honored him for drawing the "most significant Lincoln cartoon" of 1958. He was also nominated several times over the years for the Pulitzer Prize for cartooning.
After the war, he took classes at the Art Students League in New York. He then went to work at The New York Daily News and the evening paper. Returning to his native state, he hired on at The Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City as a staff artist. There he became close friends with Jack Murphy, the Daily Oklahoman’s sports columnist. When Mr. Murphy joined the sports staff of The San Diego Union, he recommended that the paper fill its opening for a political cartoonist with his friend, Ralph Yoes. From 1952 to 1967, Mr. Yoes worked as the political cartoonist for the Union, before moving over to The San Diego Evening Tribune. For the next eighteen years, he was the Tribune’s editorial cartoonist, until medical problems forced him to retire in 1985.
His cartoons were periodically printed in other newspapers and news magazines, and several U.S. presidents asked for Ralph Yoes originals. The Tribune Travel Section printed a series of his watercolors. He is the four time recipient of the Freedoms Foundation Award for 1952, 1954, 1955, and in 1956 the George Washington honor medal. The prestigious Christopher Literary Award bronze medal was bestowed on Mr. Yoes in 1955. And the Lincoln National Life Foundation honored him for drawing the "most significant Lincoln cartoon" of 1958. He was also nominated several times over the years for the Pulitzer Prize for cartooning.
Detailed Description: Box and Folder Listing
Currently unavailable