Charles Keller

Political Cartoons (1945-1988)

The Great Depression was the spark that started Keller on his journey into political activism. Although he had a privileged upbringing, he was acutely aware of the misery inflicted on the working class by the capitalist system. This newfound conviction led him to join the Communist Party USA in 1940 where he remained a lifelong member.

Keller had a long history with the CPUSA, especially its publications. He was art editor of the party’s famous cultural magazine New Masses from 1945 through 1948. Under the pressure of McCarthyism, the magazine folded, but was later replaced by March of Labor, where Keller also served as art editor. Keller stayed on until 1951, when the magazine moved its offices to Chicago.

Keller was known for his great sense of humor and his cartooning. This, along with his strong Communist political convictions, led to his contributions as a staff artist and editorial cartoonist to the Daily World and People’s Daily World from 1978 to 1988.

“He represents a long working-class tradition of Communist artists who committed themselves to activism,” CPUSA Executive Vice Chair Jarvis Tyner said. “He was a real party activist.”

Keller’s cartoon style evolves from his early heavier line work at New Masses and March of Labor, where he utilized both grease pencil and ink, to his free style approach to ink during his time at DW & PDW. The work from this later period is done on vellum and incorporates dry transfer for shading. It is then transferred to boards where you’ll see his handwritten captions as well as markings for the printer.

The newspapers published the work of many graphic artists and cartoonists, including Fred Ellis, Hugo Gellert, Robert Minor, and Ollie Harrington, and documented the relationship between politics and folk music covering individuals such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Leadbelly.