Crawford, Bill, 1913-1982

Bill Crawford (1913-1982) was an award-winning American editorial cartoonist.

William “Bill” Crawford was born on March 18, 1913 and grew up in Hammond, Indiana. His father, a banker, encouraged him to be serious about drawing and Crawford won a cartoon contest as a high school student in Cleveland, Ohio. Crawford studied fine art and sculpture at Ohio State University where he edited the comic magazine Sun Dial, and after receiving a B.A. in 1935, went abroad to study painting and drawing in Paris at the Grand Chaumiere.

Originally a sports cartoonist, Crawford worked at the Washington Post and the Washington Daily News from 1936 to 1938 before joining the Newark News . Crawford defended powerful cartoons that took strong positions. In March 1962, he left for the Newspaper Enterprise Association, replacing John Fischetti as chief editorial cartoonist. Although his cartoons were widely reprinted while with the Newark News, Crawford’s cartoons were distributed to over 700 newspapers in the United States and Canada through the NEA until Crawford’s retirement in 1977.

Crawford was active with the National Cartoonists Society, serving as president from 1960 to 1961. He was named NCS best editorial cartoonist four times (1956-1958, 1966) and received the Silver T-Square award in 1973. Crawford, also a sculptor, created the NCS Reuben award sculpture. In 1970, the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists presented Crawford with the National Headliner Award.

Crawford’s gags and illustrations also appeared in national magazines; he illustrated 20 books and also taught at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts and Rutgers University. In 1956 and 1959, Crawford toured with the U.S. State Department to entertain military forces in Germany and France.

Bill Crawford retired in 1977 and died of pneumonia at George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C on January 6, 1982.

From the guide to the Bill Crawford Papers, 1949-1968, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)