Evening star., 1946-03-31
Bergman Drawings
In National Librury
Writer Tells How Cartoonist
Gave Priced Originals
By Marv Hume Richardson

Gave Priced Originals
By Mary Hume Richardson.
q, reprint Of .ies in the
OF Current ACQUISITIONS.
Clifford Kennedy Bergman, for half
a century Washington's best-known and
most-beloved graphic commentator on
politics, began on January 10, l945, the
transfer Of the corpus of his cartoons to
the Library of Congress, where they con-
stitute In important addition to the
Cabinet of American Illustration. Thus
far almost 1900 drawings have been
received. When the remainder of those
in Mr.. Berryman's home and office come
to the Library, 1t is believed that the
Bergman archive will contain some
5000 sketches. Though there are not
able small collections in other institu-
tions, a great many original dra wings
are owned by individuals. Many public
figures. pleased or pricked by Mr. Ber-
rymans caricatured portraits OF them,
have sought the originals and the artist
has always acceded generously to their
requests. 1t is hoped that many of these
widely scattered drawings eventually
will find their way to the master collec-
ton in the Library of Congress. ..'
Mr.. Berryman's first thought of the
Library OF Congress as the appropriate
repository for the collection was aroused
by casual query from DR.. Herbert Put
nam about seven years ago as they jour-
neyed together on a streetcar, bound for
desks symbolic of widely diverse public
service. Test for matutinal attack on
each days duties was not all the two
men had in common Contrasting in
appearance and personality, each had
served some of the same constituency
for nearly SO years, each had achieved
unique distinction. each had found his
keenest enjoyment in his work. Soon
after this conversation, Mr.. Bergman
made up his mind ultimately to present
the collection to the National Library
but gave no more attention to the mat
ter until the spring Of 1914 when Archi-
bald MacLeish, then librarian, asked
Mr.. Bergman to deposit the original of
his drawings in the Library On Janu-
ary 10, 1945, Mr. Bergman brought the
first installment OF the gift to the Library
himself, and remained for an hours
visit in the ONCE of the acting librarian,
DR.. Luther H. Evans, reminiscing about
his career and sketching swiftly in pencil
as he talked, impervious to flashlights
and cameras, while few privileged
members of the staff looked on.
y 4
William Murrell has written that 1T
was not until the middle and late
COS that cartoons became a regular
feature in few of the great American
daily newspapers" although they had
occasionally appeared as early as 1872
and first became force through Walt
McDougall's effort in the New York
World at the end of the presidential
campaign in 1874" In 1891 Mr. Berry
man sold cartoon to the Washington
Post for $25: it proved so successful
that shortly thereafter his cartoons be-
gan regularly to appear In the pages
Of this newspaper. In January, 1907,
he joined the staff of The Evening and
Sunday Star, where for nearly 40
years he has delighted daily in an arch
examination of the political fabric in the
making, isolating a thread or two for
discussion with. and approval of, his
colleagues before turning to his drawing
board and composing the final prod
uct
Mr.. Berryman's sense Of responsibility
in the exercise of his great talents has
given special character to his work
In 1926 he declared in an address de-
livered at the School of journalism Of
the University of Missouri: There is
nothing in our modern life so alarming
as the power which reckless and disso-
lutte talent has to make virtuous life
seem provincial and ridiculous, vicious
life graceful and metropolitan. The
cartoonist's pencil cannot however, de-
feat a good measure. Caricature is pow
erless against an administration that is
honest and competent, powerless against
public oficial who does his duty in
his place"
Certainly, his smiling caricatures
could be drawn only by genial, smiling
man; his technique of emphasizing
rather than exaggerating the salient
characteristics Of his subjects is the
mark of his lack of malice, the fluent
sweep OF his major strokes indicates
his generous spirit; his enthusiasm for
each diurnal episode Is reflected in
work at once fresh and charming and
(by reason OF its contemporaneity)
historically important. He has an abil-
ity unsurpassed to catch likenesses and
to endow figure or countenance with
emotional quality. -
Clifford Bergman has used many Of
the symbols originated by famous early
political cartoonists whose work ap-
peared in weekly and monthly serials
notably those Of Sir John Tenniel: The
Eagle, the Russian bear the British
lion, the New Year, and those of
Thomas Mast: The COP elephant, the
Tammany tiger, the "ragbaby" of in
f1ation and the cap and dinner pail
emblematic of labor. He has created
many of his own: Miss Democracy, a
giggling. befrilled, corkscrew curled
spinster; the District of Columbia, a
stalwart male in 1Sth-century dress; the
Squash Center farmers, and, most
widely known, the Teddy Bear. Both
the people of Squash Center and their
setting were suggested by real charac-
ters who assembled around the stove in
the country store in Kentucky. where
Mr.. Bergman, aged II, once measured
sugar and flour. Over and over again
he has sketched these homely and
homespun persons, loafing, smoking and
commenting shrewdly on the news of