Werner, Charles George, 1909-1997

Chuck Werner was born March 23, 1909 in Marshfield WI. He attended special courses at Oklahoma University, Northwestern University, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He began his career for the Springfield news leader and press in 1930 as a staff artist, photographer, and reporter. He later went to work for the Daily Oklahoma (1936-1941), the Chicago sun (1941-47), and then the Indianapolis star. Werner received the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. He was also the recipient of the National Headliner's Club award, three times. A display of his cartoons was hung in the Library of Congress in 1953. Werner retired from the Indianapolis star in 1994. He died July 1, 1997 in Indianapolis. His cartoons are also at the Harry Truman Library, Syracuse University Library, and the Missouri Historical Society.

From the description of Collection, 1984-1985. (Ohio State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 61271798

Charles George Werner (1909-1997) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American cartoonist who worked for the Indianapolis Star for 47 years.

Charles Werner was born March 23, 1909 in Marshfield, Wisconsin to George and Marie (Tipelt) Werner. Werner attended Oklahoma City University but had no formal training in art. He worked as a staff artist and photographer for the Springfield, Missouri Leader and Press from 1930 until 1935. He joined the staff of the Daily Oklahoman in 1935, becoming editorial cartoonist in 1937.

Werner won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1939 for a cartoon he did for the Daily Oklahoman titled “Nomination for 1938” which appeared on October 6, 1938. The cartoon commented on the Munich Agreement which allowed for the transfer of the Sudetenland to Hitler's Germany. At age 29, Werner was the youngest person to win the Pulitzer in that category.

Werner left the Daily Oklahoman to be the Chief Editorial Cartoonist at the Chicago Sun in 1941 before leaving for the Indianapolis Star in 1947 where he stayed until his retirement in 1994. Werner received a Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism in 1943 and seven Freedom Foundation Awards from 1951 to 1963. At the 1969 International Salon of Cartoons in Montreal, he won an award as one of the world's six best cartoonists. In 1959 and 1960, Werner served as the president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

Throughout his nearly sixty year career, many U.S. Presidents expressed interest in Werner's cartoons. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson requested over a dozen original cartoons from Werner for his personal collection. Former President Harry Truman also requested a cartoon for his presidential library.

Charles Werner died on July 1, 1997 from cancer.

From the guide to the Charles Werner Papers, 1938-1966, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)