Oral History with Doyle’s Family Members

Oral History Interview on Jerry Doyle with daughter Margaret “Peg” Lawlor and granddaughter Patricia “Trish” Lawlor, conducted at the Pennsylvania State University’s Special Collections Library, September 14, 2017. Interview digitally recorded by Tim Babcock. Interviewer: Jim Quigel

Running length: 1 hour 14 minutes 47 seconds

A black and white photograph of a family of five people all smiling and looking into the camera. Front sitting: Jerry and Margaret Doyle; Back standing (L-R): Peg, Jerry III, and Terrance Doyle.

Jerry Doyle & Family (circa 1945)

Front sitting: Jerry and Marguerite Doyle
Back standing (L-R): Peg, Jerry III, and Terrance Doyle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The interview above provides additional context, perspective, and insight on Jerry Doyle’s life and editorial cartooning legacy. Interviewees Margaret “Peg” Lawlor and Patricia “Trish” Lawlor, discuss Doyle’s early childhood and educational background, his Philadelphia Irish-Catholic and working class roots, and his emerging talent drawing caricatures and illustrations without formal art training. Additionally, the Lawlors provide perspective and vignettes on Doyle’s rise in the profession of political cartooning, the work-place culture of the newsroom, and Philadelphia journalism from the 1930s to the 1960s. Particularly noteworthy are segments of the interview that cover Doyle’s editorial stance against the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, and pushback from reactionary forces—American Nazis, fascists, the Ku Klux Klan, and isolationists. They also chronicle Doyle’s progressive views on social issues of the day, his professional and social circles, and how family life all informed his daily cartoons in the pages of the Philadelphia Record and Philadelphia Daily News over a career spanning nearly sixty years

 

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