Bruce Shanks Political Cartoons

The second annual riverrun sponsored summer internship was conducted in 2014. The candidate selected was Nicole Kondziela, a student at the State University College of New York at Buffalo, earning a Master of Arts in History with a concentration in Museum Studies. Ms. Kondziela's met the qualifications for this internship and demonstrated an understanding of the project as well as enthusiasm for the subject above and beyond all others interested in this opportunity.

Ms. Kondziela chose to study this Library's Bruce Shanks Political Cartoon Collection because Shanks' artwork gave an accurate yet satirical portrayal of local, national, and international events that occurred throughout his lengthy career at the Buffalo Evening News (1951-1974) and many of the same issues have relevance to what we are still facing today. Shanks, a Buffalo native, died in 1980. The Library’s collection includes many of Shank’s original political cartoons dating from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, illustrating the pinnacle of his career. The report researched and presented by 2014 riverrun intern Nicole Kondziela may be seen and read here (pdf).