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Inventory of the Harold R. Heaton Political Cartoons, 1909-ca. 1913
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Lisa Janssen, 2004. ©2004. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
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Creator |
Heaton, Harold R. |
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Title |
Harold R. Heaton Political Cartoons |
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Dates |
1909-ca.1913 |
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Extent |
2 cubic ft. (3 flat boxes) |
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Abstract |
Sixty original political and editorial cartoons by Harold R. Heaton for the Chicago newspaper Inter-Ocean, drawn between 1909 and circa 1913. |
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Language |
Materials are in English. |
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Repository |
Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
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Collection Call Number |
Midwest MS Heaton |
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Collection Stack Location |
3a 39 3 |
Harold R. Heaton Political Cartoons, Midwest Manuscript Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Gift of Joel and Patricia Dryer, 2002
Virginia H. Smith
The Harold R. Heaton Political Cartoons are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 5 folders at a time maximum (Priority II).
The Harold R. Heaton Political Cartoons are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
Little is known about the life of Harold R. Heaton, except that he was a newspaper cartoonist of some skill, an actor, and a failed playwright.
Called "a forgotten cartoonist" in a short article in the Chicago Daily Tribune on October 8, 1942, Heaton joined the Tribune staff an illustrator in about 1885, gradually rising to the position of front-page cartoonist, signing himself as "H.R.H." By 1892 his drawings were a popular feature of the Sunday edition and in 1893 he produced weekly commentaries on the World's Columbian Exposition. In 1897 Anderson's Art Galleries in Chicago mounted an exhibition of Heaton's work which included 190 Tribune illustrations and cartoons and 19 watercolors of his travels abroad.
Despite his success as an artist, in 1899 Heaton quit the Tribune and joined the theatrical company of William Gillette, appearing in productions of Sherlock Holmes and then several other dramas. In 1906 he wrote a play called Lady Jim, but apparently he wasn't very successful as a playwright or an actor for in 1908 he returned to his artistic career as a political and editorial cartoonist for the Tribune's arch competitor, the Inter-Ocean.
Now signing his pictures "Harold Heaton" and appearing daily on the front page beginning in mid-1908, at first Heaton' subject matter consisted mainly of state and national politics or commentaries on international topics. However, by the end of 1909 he had narrowed his scope to concentrate on lampooning Chicago Mayor Fred Busse and his cohorts and appointees, and State's Attorney John E. Wayman. By 1913, Heaton's cartoons were no longer featured on the Inter-Ocean's front page, but on inside pages he continued to express opinions on issues of the day, with such topics as prison reform, the activities of Teddy Roosevelt or unrest in Ireland.
When the Inter-Ocean folded in 1914, Heaton apparently returned to a theatrical life, for he acted on Broadway between 1920 and 1932, starting with "The Guest of Honor" and finishing with The Boy Friend in 1932. He died about 1940, although it is not known exactly when or where.
Sixty original cartoons, each measuring approximately 13 x 14 inches, produced for the Chicago newspaper the Inter-Ocean between 1909 and about 1913. Twenty of these are dated; possibly some were never published. The drawings primarily are commentaries on Chicago politics of this period, and depict such figures as Chicago Mayor Fred Busse, "Shale Rock Judge" A.C. Barnes, William Lorimer, Charles E. Merriam, and State's Attorney John E. Wayman. Chicago, during Fred Busse's administration (1909-1912), endured a number of scandals involving graft and corrupt political payoffs to businesses Busse was connected to, such as the "Shale Rock Scandal," the "Cummings Foundry Affair," and the Chicago Fire Appliance Company outrage. Also, Heaton produced strong and often humorous comments on the so-called "Lorimer Case," which concerned the bribery scandal surrounding the appointment of Illinois Senator William Lorimer.
The cartoons are arranged alphabetically by the artist's titles.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Container List |
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| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | "Activity in Police Circles" (Police Chief Steward as a puppet) | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Afraid to Look (Christmas stocking possibly holding more graft news), Dec. 26, 1909 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | "And the Jury Said: 'We Do!' " (Commentary on the Erbstein case) | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | "Another Hold Up!" (Mayor Busse demanding new, huge bond issue from the Chicago tax payer) | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Bouncing Bartzen" (Bartzen vs. McCormick on a seesaw called "The County Board | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | "A Business Necessity" (Mayor Busse and his coal company pushing F. W. Blocki for County Board of Review) | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | The Busse Administration's First Defense of the Public Treasury (Mayor Busse et al. on the Battlements built by Shale Rock, Coal Ring, Cummings Foundry, fighting the Merriam Commission), Jan. 24, 1910 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | ["But we know you..."], a line from a verse which begins: "Come to me, Charley E...." Drawing is untitled. (The Busse gang dances around Charles E. Merriam) | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | By Decree of the Court (Judge Barnes finds Busse cohort Redieske innocent), July 16, 1910 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | "Chicago's Latest Vice Crusade" (Grand Jury pushing past State's Attorney J.E. Wayman | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | "Cornelia Tribune Before the Senate Committee" (The Tribune shows off her paid sources) | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | The Difference (City Hall and Mayor Busse about to explode from scandals), Sept. 21, 1910 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | "The Eighteenth Annual Report "(Voters League looking closely at the Chicago City Council) | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Exit! (Direct plurality primary law [a cat] being drowned by the Illinois Supreme Court), June 18, 1909 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | "A Fair Field for the Merriam Investigating Committee" (Report of the City comptroller for 1908 depicted as a huge construction "the most expensive year in the history of Chicago") | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Follow It Up! (Grand Juries seeking indictments for Shale Rock and Cummings Foundry scandals), Feb. 7, 1910 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | "For the Uplift of the Home - " (Illinois Commercial Federation works for better civic conditions) | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | The Gentleman from Illinois Arrives (Senator Lorimer hustled by Washington's demands), June 16, 1909 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | The Gentleman from New York (Taking a look at the Busse administration, John T. Fetherston runs back to New York), Jan. 8, 1910 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | "The Grave Robber" (Busse resurrecting "Shale Rock Judge Barnes) | |||||||||
| 2 | 21 | A Hard Proposition (Busse and Wayman robbing Chicago), Nov. 20, 1909 | |||||||||
| 2 | 22 | He Refuses to Answer (State's Attorney Wayman allowing Chicago to be robbed), Nov. 16, 1909 | |||||||||
| 2 | 23 | He Takes the Cabbage! (State's Attorney Wayman congratulating himself), May 28, 1910 | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | The Immunity Bath (J.J. Hanberg leaving the Grand Jury Room, surrounded by stamped vouchers), March 5, 1910 | |||||||||
| 2 | 25 | Impudence! (Mayor Busse, covered with scandals, confronted by voters in the upcoming election), Oct. 22, 1910 | |||||||||
| 2 | 25a | "In Place of Fireworks?" ("Sane" Fourth Assoc. inviting Teddy Roosevelt to Chicago) | |||||||||
| 2 | 26 | "In Sight at Last!" (Railway negotiations nearly completed) | |||||||||
| 2 | 27 | "It Begins to Look Like an Explosion, This Time" (State's Attorney Wayman and the police investigation of yet another bomb) | |||||||||
| 2 | 28 | It Is to Laugh! (Busse and Police Chief Steward helpless as 42nd bomb explodes), Sept. 22, 1910 | |||||||||
| 2 | 29 | "It's Up to You, Mr. Voter!" (City of Chicago encouraging voters to get efficient aldermen in the upcoming primary) | |||||||||
| 2 | 30 | "Just Thrashing 'Round!" (State's Attorney Hoyne in wild activity) | |||||||||
| 2 | 31 | "Kissed by the Sun!" (Chicago is hot) | |||||||||
| 2 | 32 | "Looks Like an Obstacle Race!" (John Wayman carrying too much baggage to be elected governor of Illinois) | |||||||||
| 2 | 33 | "The Lorimer Case" (The Tribune still investigating William Lorimer) | |||||||||
| 2 | 34 | "Next!" (The "plain people" being stripped by reformers) | |||||||||
| 2 | 35 | "Next!" (The Tribune front page spread has incited a circus atmosphere to attack Senator Lorimer) | |||||||||
| 2 | 36 | "Not the Slightest Danger!" (Charles E. Merriam's nightmare of running for mayor of Chicago) | |||||||||
| 2 | 37 | "Nothing Doing!" (Wisconsin trying to send back scandal to Chicago) | |||||||||
| 2 | 38 | "Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow" (Judge P.S. Grosscup as Romeo) | |||||||||
| 2 | 39 | "The Pity of It" (Justice weighing H.C. Beattie, Jr.) | |||||||||
| 2 | 40 | A Pointed Question (How is Busse connected with the Cummings Foundry affair?), March 3, 1910 | |||||||||
| 3 | 41 | "The Police Department Takes Off Its Hat to Him!" (Police and Mayor Busse in agreement) | |||||||||
| 3 | 42 | "The Program for this Week" (Charles Merriam with his investigating agenda) | |||||||||
| 3 | 43 | The Rats Desert the Sinking Ship (Inter-Ocean exposures causing Busse administration to sink), Jan. 15, 1910 | |||||||||
| 3 | 44 | "Recommended for the Ermine!" (Shale Rock gang embracing A.C. Barnes, the "Shale Rock Judge") | |||||||||
| 3 | 45 | "Redieske: 'Cut it Out, Fred, They Haven't Adjourned Yet!'" (Busse dancing around Redieske), Feb. 19, 1910 | |||||||||
| 3 | 46 | "Released at Last!" (Money for families of firemen killed in the stockyard fires of Dec., 1910, becomes available) | |||||||||
| 3 | 47 | "Scraping Off the Barnacles" (A.A. McCormick cleaning up the County Board) | |||||||||
| 3 | 48 | "Sticking Closer Than a Brother!" (Judge Cooper after the money raised for firemen's families after stockyard fire) | |||||||||
| 3 | 49 | "Taft May Come and Taft May go, But These Fight On Forever!" (Illinois politicians continue to quarrel, while Taft blows through town) | |||||||||
| 3 | 50 | "Tempering the Wind to a Lamb Shorn and Roasted" (The public swelters while railway workers arbitrate a strike) | |||||||||
| 3 | 51 | They Don't See It Coming-- (The coming election doesn't look good for the Busse gang), Oct. 15, 1910 | |||||||||
| 3 | 52 | "Virtue Rewarded - A Political Playlet Without Wordlets" (The Tribune rewards Merriam for putting a lid on Inter-Ocean exposures of Busse's graft) | |||||||||
| 3 | 53 | "What About This?" (Chicago scolding the police department after another bomb explosion) | |||||||||
| 3 | 54 | "What Are the Wild Waves Saying!" (Senate Committee exonerates Lorimer and Hines - waves about to wash over the Tribune and Harvester Trust) | |||||||||
| 3 | 55 | " What Inefficiency Has Brought Us To!" (City garbage disposal issue) | |||||||||
| 3 | 56 | What's the Use? (Busse, Hanberg and Coleman watching the Statute of Limitations run out), April 27, 1910 | |||||||||
| 3 | 57 | The Whitewash Man (Commentary on Elton Lower urged by Busse to whitewash the Merriam Commission findings), Jan. 20, 1910 | |||||||||
| 3 | 58 | "Who Says There's Nothing Doing in Politics!" (State's Attorney Wayman: "The Grand Jury endorses ME for governor") | |||||||||
| 3 | 59 | "Will It Come to This?" (Life insurance companies plan to raise premiums for married men) | |||||||||
| 3 | 60 | "The Worm turns at Last!" (Citizen's Association squashing Mayor Busse) | |||||||||