Thomas Nast, a 19th century cartoonist often considered the “Father of the American Cartoon,” moved his family to Morristown, New Jersey after receiving threats from Tammany Hall’s William “Boss” Tweed.
And now the Garden State is considering adding him to their hall of fame.
The New Jersey Hall of Fame have announced their 2010 class, and Nast appears among a list of notables that includes presidents Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson, jazz legend Count Basie, Academy Award-winning actor Jack Nicholson and many others.
Nast’s drawings were instrumental in the downfall of Boss Tweed, who so feared Nast’s cartoons that he unsuccessfully attempted to bribe the cartoonist to stop. Tweed said famously, “Stop them damn pictures! I don’t care what the papers write about me. My constituents can’t read. But, damn it, they can see the pictures!”
Tweed was eventually convicted for stealing between $40 million and $200 million from New York City taxpayers through political corruption.
To vote for Thomas Nast, click here.
