Schilder, Edgar F.

Edgar F. "Steve" Schilder (1888-1963) was an American cartoonist who worked for the Syracuse Post-Standard for over 40 years.

Edgar Francis "Steve" Schilder was born in Chillicothe, Ohio on August 31, 1888. A self-taught artist, Schilder completed courses through the Evans Correspondence School of Cartooning in Columbus, Ohio and his early cartoons were done on chalk plates. His first journalism job was with the Chillicothe newspaper, where he worked for several months without pay in order to gain experience. Schilder then held a string of newspaper positions around the United States.

Schilder worked at the Columbus Citizen, the Portsmouth Blade and in Lima, Ohio. Schilder then went to the Denver Post, the St. Joseph Missouri News Press and the Indianapolis Star . During his tenure in Indianapolis, Schilder picked up his pen name "Steve" which was derived from the black cat that appeared in many of his cartoons. Leaving Indianapolis, Schilder spent a year and a half with the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Indiana before taking a job in Baltimore with the International Syndicate.

In 1914 Schilder worked in St. Louis, in 1915 in Atlanta, and in 1916 he worked at the New Orleans Times Picayune until in 1917, Schilder took a job with the Syracuse Post-Standard and became editor of the newspaper's Sunday magazine. As editor, Schilder's decision to publish historic photos in the magazine proved popular with readers and he ran the newspaper’s photography contests. Schilder also worked as the editorial cartoonist. The New York Herald Tribune, New York Times and the Saturday Evening Post also published Schilder's cartoons.

The United States Treasury Department recognized him with an award in 1940 for his war bond cartoons, and his cartoons of prominent World War II figures were exhibited at the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts in 1943. The demands of the Post-Standard's Sunday magazine led Schilder to spend less time on cartooning during his final years with the newspaper. Schilder retired from the Post-Standard on July 1, 1962.

Edgar F. Schilder died on August 25, 1963 after falling in his home and suffering a skull fracture.

From the guide to the Edgar F. Schilder Papers, 1909-1950, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)