Articles

The Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives recently introduced an exciting new resource for educators. Representing Congress: Clifford K. Berryman's Political Cartoons is an eBook that presents a selection of political cartoons and learning resources to engage students in a discussion of what Congress is, how it works, and what it does. The eBook can be used in the classroom along with the lesson plan, "Congress Represented in Political Cartoons."

From the 1890s until his death in 1949, Washington cartoonist Clifford Berryman drew thousands of cartoons characterizing American politics for the Washington Post and the Washington Evening Star. Representing Congress, with cartoons drawn from the Archive’s collection of over 2,400 original Berryman illustrations, is designed to teach students to analyze history as conveyed in visual media. Each of the thirty-nine images portrays a thumbnail sketch of Congress in action to reveal enduring features of our national representative government.

Humanities Texas circulates a traveling exhibition of Berryman’s cartoons—also from the Archive's collection—titled a Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman. The contents of the exhibition are available online on the National Archives website.