Sokaogon Chippewa Community News

Paul Ackley Included With World’s Top Cartoonists

Posted on: January 25, 2024
By Ryan Berry, Editor, DailyAdvocate.com

Wendy Pflug, Associate Curator of Collections, accepted Paul Ackley’s collection of editorial cartoons. Submitted photo.
You’ve seen Paul Ackley’s editorial cartoons on the pages of The Daily Advocate and The Early Bird since the early 1980s, but now many pieces of his work will forever be preserved at The Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. Ackley was recently honored with inclusion into the repository of cartoonist’s work from around the world.

The museum is named for the cartoonist that served the Columbus Dispatch in the early 1900s until his death in 1935. At one time, Ireland was publishing four to seven editorial cartoons each week. Ireland was born in Chillicothe and was a graduate of The Ohio State University.

One of Paul Ackley’s heroes, Dick Locher, was one of several artists responsible for creating the Dick Tracy comic strip. Submitted photo.

Wendy Pflug and Paul Ackley examine the vault where many of Paul’s cartoons will be stored. Submitted photo.
Although Ackley is a three-time Associated Press award winner for his editorial cartoons and earned the Good Citizen award from the State of Ohio, he said this honor ranks up there with those other honors. He recently presented approximately 150 pieces of his original artwork to the museum after being accepted by the board. He pointed out that it isn’t an easy process to be included in the museum and library. The artist must apply for inclusion and then their artwork is scrutinized by the library and museum’s board. Only the top comic and editorial artists are accepted.

Ackley said he asked why his artwork was accepted. Their first answer was the quality of his work. However, Ackley said he was intrigued by their other reasons for including his work in their collection. The museum also liked that he was a veteran, and he had a Native American background. He was surprised to learn there are very few artists with that type of background.

The artwork that will be included in the museum and library ranges from Ackley’s early work at the beginning of the 1980s to work featured in the Daily Advocate last year. Ackley believes he has drawn approximately 2,800 cartoons since first drawing for Roosevelt University when he was attending art school. Some of those first cartoons also made it to the pages of the Daily Advocate.

Read the full story here.