Cartoon mascot exhibit at Johns Hopkins library

Reproduced in full, from Johns Hopkins' website:

New exhibit at MSE Library captures birth of the Blue Jay
JHU Gazette, January 26 2009


Grauer's Blue Jay: A Hopkins Tradition, an exhibit of Blue Jay memorabilia from journalist, author and editorial cartoonist Neil A. Grauer, opens at the MSE Library on Wednesday, Jan. 28, and runs through May 25.

Since the 1920s, the mascot of The Johns Hopkins University has been the feisty Blue Jay — sporting black-and-blue plumage to match the school's athletic colors.

For more than 40 years, the most popular portrayal of that mascot has been the cartoon Blue Jay created in 1966 by Grauer during his student years as a cartoonist for the university's student newspaper, The Johns Hopkins News-Letter.

The exhibit is drawn from the Grauer Blue Jay Collection, a 1996 gift from Grauer to the Sheridan Libraries of more than 50 items. On display are his original sketch of the Blue Jay, drawn on the back of a 3x5 index card; numerous other original drawings; and lacrosse caps, T-shirts, posters, cups, an umbrella and a travel bag, all printed with the Blue Jay logo.

Several items from Grauer's personal collection are also exhibited, including a pair of Nike limited edition sneakers created for members of the 2007 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse championship team.

Grauer has drawn the Blue Jay for numerous JHU athletic teams, the Alumni Association and the Pep Band, and still draws the Blue Jay on request. A 1969 graduate of the School of Arts and Sciences, he is now a senior writer in the Editorial Services Division of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Marketing and Communications.

The exhibit is located on M-Level of the Eisenhower Library and may be viewed whenever the library is open.