In 1949, the Society
volunteered to help the Treasury Department in a drive to sell
savings bonds by sending NCS members out on the road. A nationwide,
seventeen-city tour was undertaken by teams of ten or twelve
cartoonists and a 95-foot-long traveling display.
Through the Society, NCS members have continued to serve the
nation in person and through their art. Teams of cartoonists
have toured war zones and military installations around the world
in cooperation with the USO. Others have entertained at VA hospitals.
NCS members have also contributed to many U.S. government programs;
their efforts have benefitted NASA, USIA, the Treasury Department
Savings Bond division and the President's Council on Physical
Fitness. Other beneficiaries have been the Boy Scouts of America,
the American Red Cross and the United Nations. |
Right: NCS members
met with President Harry Truman in January, 1950. Russell Patterson,
Alfred Andriola, John Pierotti, Milton Caniff marvel at what
appears to be a Presidential prototype of Spongebob Squarepants.
 |
The
tradition of lending our talents to worthy causes continues to
this day. In 2001, for example, NCS members in the syndicated
community dedicated their newspaper strips and panels to a Thanksgiving
initiative that raised over $50,000 for victims of the 9/11 attacks,
and members contributed a further $18,000 through the proceeds
of a private auction.
Text adapted in part from an
article by R.C. Harvey in the latest edition of the National
Cartoonists Society Album.
Click
here to read more about the subsequent
Presidents of the NCS |
