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Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Provenance

Received from Doug Marlette, of Hillsborough, N.C., in January 2000 (Acc. 98533 and 98537).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Josh McKim, February 2001

Encoded by: Josh McKim, February 2001

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, February 2021

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Cartooning--United States--History--20th century.
• Cartoonists--United States.
• Cartoons and comics.
• Editorial cartoons.
• Kudzu (Comic strip).
• Marlette, Doug, 1949- .
• Political cartoons.

Doug Marlette was born in Greensboro, N.C., in 1949. Marlette's father served in World War II and, after the War, as a United States Marine Corps medic. His mother was a homemaker. Marlette has two siblings. In 1980, Marlette married Melinda Hartley; their son Jackson was born in 1986. The Marlettes' home is in Hillsborough, N.C.

During Marlette's childhood, his family followed his father's postings to different Marine Corps stations. From Greensboro, they moved to Durham, N.C. In 1962, the family moved to Laurel, Miss., where Marlette attended Sunday school at Magnolia Street Baptist Church. In 1966, they moved to Sanford, Fla., where Marlette, still in high school, worked as a staff artist for the Sanford Herald, contributing drawings for the sports and editorial pages. From 1968 to 1969, Marlette attended Seminole Community College and began his political cartooning career working for Ralph Dunigan at the Orlando Sentinel-Star . After two years of community college, Marlette transferred to Florida State University in Tallahassee and began working as editorial cartoonist for the Florida Flambeau, the campus newspaper. Marlette then worked for six months as a staff artist and sometimes editorial cartoonist for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida. In 1972, Marlette returned to North Carolina as the editorial cartoonist for the Charlotte Observer.

In June 1975, King Features began national syndication of Marlette's work and he published his first book, The Emperor Has No Clothes. In 1976, he received a citation from the Overseas Press Club for foreign affairs cartoons. Marlette published his second book, If You Can't Say Something Nice, in 1978, and his third, Drawing Blood, in 1980. Marlette was granted a one-year Nieman Fellowship from Harvard University, in 1980, the first cartoonist to win the award. He spent 1980-1981 attending seminars, meeting scholars and artists, and attending classes. Upon completing the Nieman Fellowship, Marlette returned to the Charlotte Observer and began publishing the daily comic strip Kudzu in May 1981 in addition to his editorial cartoons. Jefferson Communications, the Chicago Tribune, and the New York Newsday Syndicate distributed the comic strip nationally. In 1982, Marlette published his first Kudzu book.

In 1987, after 15 years producing editorial cartoons for the Charlotte Observer , Marlette joined the Atlanta Constitution and editor Bill Kovacs, formerly Washington bureau editor for the New York Times . One year later, Kovacs was fired from the paper, and Marlette resigned. He then went to work as an editorial cartoonist for Newsday.

Marlette's work has been collected in 17 volumes. He also wrote the screenplay for "Ex" with Pat Conroy. He wrote Kudzu, A Southern Musical , the musical adaptation of his comic strip, in collaboration with Jack Herrick and Bland Simpson of the Red Clay Ramblers. The play, produced at Duke University and at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., was published by Samuel French Company.

Marlette has won every major award for editorial cartooning, including the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for his work at the Charlotte Observer and at the Atlanta Constitution. He has received the National Headliners Award for Consistently Outstanding Editorial Cartoons three times, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Award for editorial cartooning twice, and first prize in the John Fischetti Memorial Cartoon Competition twice. His work has appeared in major newspapers and new magazines, and he has appeared on many nationally broadcast television and radio programs.

The Doug Marlette papers consist of original artwork and art reproductions divided into three series: the Kudzu comic strip, political cartoons, and other artwork. Other papers include correspondence, writings, clippings, subject and other files, and photographs.

Kudzu comic strip original art is arranged chronologically into runs of daily comics and Sunday comics; there are also unpublished original sketches and incomplete comics. Also included are daily and Sunday runs of reproduced Kudzu comic strips and other reproduced Kudzu art. Political cartoons include examples from Marlette's work in the late 1960s at the Orlando Sentinel Star through 1997 and at Newsday. They are arranged chronologically (when the date is known) or in subject categories devised by Marlette. There are also unpublished sketches and incomplete cartoons. Other artwork includes both originals and reproductions of unidentified drawings, book covers, personal art, drawings from other comic strips, transparencies included in Marlette 1988 Pulitzer Prize application, book materials, and other items.

Correspondence, 1972-1995 (bulk 1988-1990), includes letters and related materials that Marlette received from family, colleagues, fans, and critics. Included are items relating to Marlette's winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 and to events surrounding his departure from the Atlanta Constitution and arrival at New York Newsday. Of particular note are a 1972 letter from Jesse Helms, then WRAL-TV executive vice president, praising Marlette's cartoons and two 1986 letters from then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. Other letters relate to business ventures and other matters.

Writings include drafts of Marlette's 1991 autobiography, In Your Face: A Cartoonist at Work ; a draft of a screenplay; and copies of speeches and articles. Clippings are chiefly articles and images that Marlette collected, 1971-1998. Other files include materials relating to prize applications; a 1964 inscribed school yearbook; and files on topics of interest to Marlette, including his litigation with the Hershey Foods Corporation over use of the company's logo, materials relating to his work at Newsday, and items pertaining to the Jerry Falwell v. Hustler Magazine Supreme Court case. Pictures are of Marlette and others, including some relating to Kudzu: A Southern Musical.

Oversize papers (OP-5008/1-7)

Oversize volume (SV-5008/1)

Pictures (PF-5008/1-3)