Charles Gordon Brooks was born November 22, 1920 in Andualusia, Alabama. He attended Birmingham Southern College, which Brooks left in 1941 to attend the Chicago Academy of Fine Art. It was here that Brooks learned the art of editorial cartooning. After service in World War II, Brooks was hired as an editorial cartoonist for The Birmingham News in Birmingham, Alabama. He worked there from 1948 to 1985. Brooks passed away on September 29, 2011. Before his career as an editorial cartoonist, Brooks enlisted in the army and after training, attended Officers Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the 531 Engineer Shore Regiment. His unit participated in the D-Day landing at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, mainly helping to establish a supply port at the beachhead. During his army service Brooks drew several cartoons which appeared in the publication Stars and Stripes. Among his many accomplishments, Brooks won the Sigma Delta Chi Award for the most outstanding editorial cartoon of 1959. He also served as president of the Association of Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) in 1969.
From the guide to the Charles Brooks Collection, 1937-1973, (The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum)
Charles G. Brooks (1920- ) is an American editorial cartoonist who worked for the Birmingham News for 38 years.
Charles Brooks was born in Andalusia, Alabama on November 20, 1920. He studied at Birmingham-South College starting in 1939. Wanting to focus on cartooning, he left for the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1941 where he studied under Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Vaughn Shoemaker.
Brooks enlisted in the Army and saw combat during World War II. Following his service, Brooks worked in Chicago producing cartoons for an advertising agency. In 1948, Brooks became the Birmingham News’ first editorial cartoonist. In the mid 1980s, Brooks retired from the Birmingham News .
Thirteen Freedom Foundation awards were presented to Brooks as well as a National VFW Award and a Sigma Delta Chi Award (1960). Brooks was president of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists and in 1968 he was the president of the Alabama Chapter of the Sigma Delta Chi Journalism Fraternity. Brooks’ cartoons have been exhibited at the Birmingham Public Library, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Smithsonian.
Brooks edits the annual compilation Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year which was first published in 1973 and is a member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists.
From the guide to the Charles Brooks Papers, 1960-1969, 1965-1969, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
