John Churchill Chase

September 2005 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Churchill Chase cartoonist, historian, raconteur, born in New Orleans on September 17, 1905. From the late 1920’s through the early 1960’s, Chase’s cartoons appeared in New Orleans newspapers (the Item, the States, and the States-Item). The next generation of New Orleanians remembers his cartoons from WDSU-TV, where he became the U.S.’s first televised editorial cartoonist.
Chase was also a historian and author of numerous pamphlets and books, the best known of which is probably the prize-winning Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children and Other Streets of New Orleans, first published in 1949 and still in print today. Also well-known among his books is The Louisiana Purchase (written in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Purchase), a history in cartoons, which first appeared each week in the States and in more than 35 other newspapers around the country. During his day, Chase was also a popular public speaker and a guest lecturer at Tulane University.