There are all kinds of nerds — book nerds, computer nerds, history nerds, science nerds, space nerds, sci-fi nerds, math nerds, even just plain nerd nerds — and the land of the literary has room for all of them. It helps that many books are pretty…
Did you know that Dr. Seuss drew political cartoons during World War II? From 1941-1943, Theodor Seuss Geisel composed over 400 wartime editorial cartoons for the New York journal PM. While he targeted Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and the Japanese, his cartoons also ridiculed any notions of appeasement or American isolationism. Dr. Seuss derided Charles Lindbergh and the America First movement and often used an ostrich as a stand-in for these isolationists. The University of California, San Diego, now owns the originals of his political cartoons, two of which are shown here courtesy of UCSD. Approximately half of the editorial cartoons were selected for the 1999 publication, Dr. Seuss Goes to War, by Richard H. Minear. The book contains full page images of the cartoons arranged by the author based on topics such as "The Home Front" and "Winning the War." Minear also addresses the crass insensitivity shown to Asian-Americans, specifically Japanese-Americans, in several of these cartoons. By means of explanation rather than excuse, Minear elucidates the historical background and wartime context which drove Dr. Seuss's editorial commentary. You'll find a copy of Dr. Seuss Goes to War among the featured books in the current "Dr. Seuss!" display in our lobby. -Evelyn Fischel
On the neurological underpinnings of geekdom.
Political cartoons use imagery and text to comment on a contemporary social issue. They may contain a caricature of a well-known person or an allusion to a contemporary event or trend. By examining the image and text elements of the...
The “What People Think I Do/What I Do” meme is spreading like wildfire on the Web. Two seem particularly appropriate; if someone combined them, they would describe my life perfectly. H/…
New York Ratification of the Bill of Rights On September 25, 1790, by joint resolution, Congress passed 12 articles of amendment to the new Constitution, now known as the Bill of Rights. The Treaty of Kanagawa On March 31, 1854, the first treaty between Japan and the United States was signed. The Treaty was the result of an encounter between an elaborately planned mission to open Japan . Whistler's Survey Etching One of the known works completed by Whistler during his brief federal service, "Sketch of Anacapa Island," 1854.
