Thursday, July 18, 2024

Elkanah Tisdale's Gerrymandering cartoon in the Library of Congress

A pen sketch of a bizarre political district, shaped like a huge salamander (or dragon), with wings, teeth and clawed feet added on.
The political cartoon that gave birth to the term "Gerrymandering." Artist: Elkanah Tisdale. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

Gerrymandering: The Origin Story

—This is a guest post by Mark Dimunation, the former chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2024/07/gerrymandering-the-origin-story/

Note this:

The Library's Rare Book and Special Collections Division holds the original print of the image, and the Geography and Map Division holds Tisdale's original woodblocks — preserving the origins of a political practice that continues over two centuries later.

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