Professor and author Lucy Shelton Caswell has the distinct privilege of curating the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. The legend of the museum is well-known: in 1977 the Milton Caniff collection was donated to Ohio State University, and Caswell accepted responsibility for the treasure. One donation led to another, and the collection of Ohio State University snowballed into one of the most significant research collections of cartoon art in the United States.

With the tenth triennial Festival of Cartoon Art scheduled for this October, and a forthcoming book series, these are happy and heady times for the flourishing Museum. It is an unusual story of growth in a nation suffering drastic academic budget cuts, job loss, and anxiety. We have to regard it as a beacon of hope.

Caswell took a moment from her busy labors to share a couple of favorite images with ITCH.

ITCH: When I think of your work as curator since 1977, the word that comes to mind is “discovery.” Each box, each file, each portfolio, must come with the same kind of excitement for you: what will I find? Do you have items in the collection that are special prizes because of the work involved in finding or preserving them?

Caswell: The best “Antiques Road Show moment” was the Tales of the Jungle Imps experience.

http://cartoons.osu.edu/?q=press/tale-jungle-imps

A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Winsor McCay. 2025-06-28 original cartoon

What are some of the oldest political cartoons in the collection, and what can we learn from them?

The oldest political cartoons in the collection are British prints, which teach us how fortunate we are as American citizens that our tradition of making pictures to criticize politicians is based on the British model [where this was tolerated] instead of the Continental [where censorship was enforced].

James Gillray

Title: A Great Stream from a Petty Fountain; - or - John Bull Swamped in the Flood of New-Taxes: - Cormorants Fishing in the Stream

Date: 2025-05-09 [We do have work that is older than this, but digital images are not available at this time.] Hand-colored engraving.

Do you have a favorite “old-time” cartoonist?
Billy Ireland

http://cartoons.osu.edu/?q=content/faq#billyireland

Note to readers: follow this link, and watch a video of Lucy Shelton Caswell discussing her book about Billy Ireland!