COLUMBUS, Ohio — Rachel Miller and Caitlin McGurk say the idea behind their “Ladies First” exhibition is much more than highlighting the contributions women have made to the medium.
- A new exhibit at Ohio State's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum is celebrating the long history of women's innovations in comics and cartoon art
- The 100-year exhibition starts with the women’s suffrage movement, and delves into political cartoons, pop culture and the first female-created superhero
- The exhibit runs through May 2020
“What we wanted to think about in this story in particular, is not only what is the work that women have done in comics and cartoon art, but how has the medium of comics as a whole benefited from women's work and presence in the industry,” said Rachel Miller, curator, OSU PhD candidate.
The 100-year exhibition starts with the women's suffrage movement, and delves into political cartoons, pop culture, even the first female-created superhero.
“In looking for some of that artwork, we were both pleasantly surprised just how much of it there was. We were able to include a whole wall, packed with early women cartoonists who were tackling some pretty heavy issues in the early 1900s,” said Caitlin McGurk, Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum.
The exhibit also highlights innovators like Jackie Ormes —the first African American woman cartoonist to have a nationally distributed comic strip.
“It was called Torchy Brown, and it ran in the black press newspapers in the 1930s. She then went on to make a single panel comic strip called Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger and was able to license the image of the little girl in that cartoon,” said McGurk.
Both Miller and McGurk say hope the exhibit breaks some of the stigmas that women in comics is an anomaly.
The Ladies First exhibit at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum and Library on Ohio State's campus runs through May 2020.