National Archives (U.S.) Publishes Ebook Featuring Political Cartoons, Now Available Online (Free)

From the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

To help make sense of Congress and its complexities, the National Archives Center for Legislative Archives today launched Representing Congress: Clifford K. Berryman’s Political Cartoons, a free eBook (67 pages; PDF). Representing Congress goes beyond the headlines, using political cartoons to explore what Congress is, how it works, and what it does. The eBook’s cartoons and learning resources engage students of all ages and illustrate how elected officials in the House and Senate represent the American people and fulfill the Founders’ vision.

Representing Congress showcases Berryman’s ability to use portraits, representative symbols and figures, and iconic personifications to help explain the institutions and issues of civic life.  Each eBook page features a large political cartoon and links to related online materials, enticing visual learners and orienting students to the study of politics and government.  These drawings highlight timeless aspects of Congress.  While faces, personalities and many procedures change, these cartoons show that our representative institutions remain surprisingly consistent.

Related Online Resources

Companion classroom lesson plan: Congress Represented in Political Cartoons

Online exhibit:  Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman

• Congress Creates the Bill of Rights Lesson Plan, eBook and mobile app

• Additional Center for Legislative Archives Educational Resources

About Clifford Berryman

Clifford K. Berryman, staff political cartoonist for The Washington Post and the Washington Evening Star during the first half of the 20th century, drew thousands of cartoons commenting on the events, issues, and personalities of his era. Berryman was a Washington institution, and his 53 years of front-page drawings were internationally renowned. He satirized both Democratic and Republican political figures but was able to critique without rancor which won him great respect from many politicians. The original cartoons used in Representing Congress are part of a collection of nearly 2,400 drawings by Berryman from the U.S. Senate Collection housed in the Center for Legislative Archives in Washington, DC.

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