Cartoonists Against Racism: The Secret Jewish War on Bigotry

Horrific scenes of anti-Jewish violence in Europe filled the newsreels in American theaters in the 1930s and 1940s.

What could be done to make sure it didn’t happen in America? One Jewish organization hit upon a remarkable idea—to enlist some of America’s most beloved cartoonists to wage a war on bigotry.

Cartoonists Against Racism uncovers the secret campaign to create anti-racist comics and cartoons to flood America’s newspapers, classrooms, and union halls. Meet the artists and the work that was their ammunition in the battle for America’s soul.

The book showcases impactful anti-racism artwork from the era’s preeminent cartoonists, including multiple Pulitzer Prize winners Bill Mauldin and Vaughn Shoemaker; New Yorker cartoonists Carl Rose, Mischa Richter, and Frank Hanley; famed antiwar cartoonist Robert Osborn; Dave Berg of Mad magazine; renowned sports cartoonist Willard Mullin; noted labor cartoonist Bernard Seaman; comics artist Mac Raboy (Flash Gordon, Captain Marvel Jr.); and Eric Godal, who escaped from Nazi Germany and became a leading cartoonist in the American press and acclaimed artist Dick Dorgan.

Rafael Medoff is a professor of Jewish history, an author or editor of over twenty books on Jewish history, and the founding director of the David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.

Craig Yoe, called by USA Today “the comic book genre’s master archaeologist,” has written or edited nearly a hundred books in the field of comics and cartooning history.