Cartoonist of the Month-Nov. 2010

Grover Page (1892-1958)

Originally posted Nov. 2010

Grover Page wasn't born in Indiana, nor did he work here, but for seventeen years, he crossed the Ohio River from his home in the Hoosier State to the offices of the Louisville Courier-Journal, where he drew a daily cartoon.

Page was born in Gastonia, North Carolina, on November 10, 1892, only a few days after the election of Grover Cleveland to the presidency. That’s how the future cartoonist got his Christian name. He decided at age ten on his calling and began drawing at the Gastonia public schools--in art class and out. "I had to find something to do in Latin class," he often said, "so I drew." Page completed his formal education at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.

Page became an editorial cartoonist at age eighteen with the Baltimore Sun. After working for the Nashville Tennessean for two years, Page moved on to the Louisville Courier-Journal. He spent the next thirty-nine years there drawing pointed and strongly opinionated cartoons. For the first seventeen of those years, Page lived in New Albany, Indiana, just across the river from Louisville. He and his son, Grover Page, Jr., were also fine artists and members of the Wonderland Way Art Club of New Albany. Page senior also worked as an illustrator and won many art awards during his years in Indiana.

Page’s long career came to an end with his death on August 5, 1958. His successor at the Courier-Journal was Hugh Haynie.

Grover Page cartooned for the Louisville Courier-Journal for nearly four decades and lived in Indiana for about half that time. Here's a cartoon, captioned "Consultation," from the mid part of his career. Czechoslovakia is understandably alarmed as the powers of Europe discuss his fate.

Text and captions copyright 2011, 2024 by Terence E. Hanley