After World War II, a young Army Reserve infantryman, George Fisher, who fought at the Battle of the Bulge, turned his military service into a public political career.
Unlike many of his fellow Arkansans, he picked up a cartoonist's pen.
Often, his drawings were sharp and aggressive, appearing first in the North Little Rock Times.
That's how Adam D. Heien, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Special Collections archivist, described Fisher's early career.
Heien was a presenter last week at the "Ballots & Laughs: Panel Discussion of Arkansas Political Cartoonist George Fisher," hosted virtually by the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas.
Fisher's cartoons also appeared during a time ripe for humorous political commentary, and Fisher drew about voter suppression and the overall political climate, which included Gov. Orval Faubus and his involvement in the Little Rock Central High School integration crisis of 1957.
"The overall political climate lent itself" to Fisher's work, Heien said.
Center curator Chaney Jewell said the online discussion focused on Fisher's career as a political cartoonist and how he documented, commented and added humor to the politicians and politics.
His cartoon career began in 1946 with a position at the West Memphis News, and after Fisher and his wife and fellow artist Rosemary Fisher, moved to Little Rock in 1949, he started a commercial art business.
Arkansas born, Fisher was possibly best known in Central Arkansas for his work in the Arkansas Gazette and the Arkansas Times, but it also regularly appeared in The Pine Bluff Commercial, Heien said.
Perhaps lesser known but no less creative was the Fishers' 1950s-era KATV television show, "Phydeaux and His Friends."
"The show, using puppets the Fishers sculpted, specialized in political satire and featured local political figures," including Faubus.
"The Arkansas Gazette hired George Fisher as the editorial cartoonist in 1976, where he worked until the paper was bought by the Arkansas Democrat in 1991. Afterward, Fisher's cartoons appeared in the Arkansas Times until his death in 2003," Jewell said.
ON VIEW
The online program, which was approximately 45 minutes long, was held "in conjunction with the exhibition of another political cartoonist, Ray Walters," and as part of this exhibit, the political cartoon dolls of the Fishers is on display at ASC.
The exhibit is available for public viewing at the center until Jan. 23, but is also part of the permanent online gallery and can be viewed at https://www.asc701.org/current-exhibition/tgrpawy9x7b7e36e2xhcrrw6xf6c4y.
As well, the program was part of the Meet the Curator with Jewell's ongoing series hosted by ASC at Pine Bluff and accompanies the exhibit, "Ballots & Laughs: The Political Cartoons of Ray Walters."
The Meet the Curator series is made possible by a mini-grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Because of pandemic restrictions, the program livestreamed on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and will be available on the center's website, at https://www.asc701.org/meet-the-curator, along with several other previously aired Meet the Curator series.
The Arts and Science Center is at 701 S. Main St. in Pine Bluff, and is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
All visitors 2 years and older are required to wear a mask, fully covering the nose and mouth.
The number of visitors are limited to 10, and people are welcome to reserve a time slot in advance by contacting Matthew Howard, visitor relations coordinator, at (870) 536-3375 or email [email protected].
