Henry Jackson Lewis was the first African-American political cartoonist. He was born a slave, probably in 1837 or 1838 in Yalobusha County, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. In 1872 he settled in Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Combined Statistical Area...

. The oldest known cartoons by H. J. Lewis were published in 1872. At some time during the early 1880s he started working for an Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

newspaper, The Freeman. He died of pneumonia in April 1891.

External links

• The Emergence of Editorial Cartoons by African American Artists