Trenton, N.J., Jan 4, 2012 / 23:55 pm
Voting has closed for the New Jersey Hall of Fame’s nomination of 19th-century cartoonist Thomas Nast, whose proposed induction drew criticism from Catholic and Irish groups who said his negative portrayals of Catholics and Irish-Americans made him unsuitable for the honor.
Nast is better known for creating the modern version of Santa Claus and Uncle Sam. He was a pioneer in editorial cartooning and popularized the symbols of the Elephant and the Donkey for the Republican and Democratic parties.
He also created cartoons such as “The American River Ganges,” which show Catholic bishops as alligators threatening schoolchildren. One cartoon, archived at the Catholic League website, labeled the Catholic Church a “foreign reptile.”
Other images attack Catholic opposition to public schooling, which at the time required Catholics to read from the Protestant King James Version of the Bible. One drawing shows monster-faced Irish Catholic schoolchildren kicking a Bible. Another lauds church-state separation in Europe and warns of efforts to unite the institutions in the United States.