Local editorial cartoonist has work featured in latest exhibit at Historical Society of PA

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson has made a career drawing images that reflect contemporary American life.

One of her more recent cartoons mentions Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker.

"You have to deal with politics," says Wilkinson.

There are some cartoons featuring Philadelphia, women's issues and national politics.

Wilkinson says she is now mostly retired, but her cartoons appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News for 35 years.

"I was doing five a week, Monday through Friday," she says.

Now, about 30 pieces of her work are on view at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

"The current exhibit is called Cartoons as Political Speech in Colonial and Contemporary America," says David Brigham, Librarian and CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

"These are all pretty new," says Wilkinson. "They have messages that everyone can think about."

Her work is alongside political cartoons dating back to the 1760s.

Brigham says they wanted to highlight free speech as one of America's "founding principles," and invite visitors to see how people used that freedom during the colonial period.

It was not dissimilar from today in that political cartoons were used to express opinions on key figures.

"Cartoons were used as a form of satire and they were typically aimed at people in power," he says.

Besides politics, Wilkinson addresses other themes, like education and health.

"People do say, 'Can she say that? Is she allowed to say that?' Yeah, as a matter of fact," she says. "It's an honor to take use of the First Amendment."

Wilkinson was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1992.

"If I'm listening to the president of the United States giving a State of the Union address, I have to doodle; I have notebooks full," she says.

"Signe's brilliant, and she has a way with images and words," says Brigham. "How concisely she can capture an idea."

"A cartoon is just one more way of keeping an eye on things," says Wilkinson. "Somebody has to keep an eye on what goes on in the political life of our city, our state, our country."

"History is most interesting when we use it to inform our present moment, and we use it to think about where we're going as a people and as a nation," says Brigham.

"Cartoons have little lives of their own," says Wilkinson. "I'm thrilled and grateful that they have an afterlife."

Signe Wilkinson | Cartoons as Political Speech in Colonial and Contemporary America
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust St, Philadelphia, PA 19107