A Kat in Hiding: George Joseph Herriman

Although every biography about the cartoonist was careful never to actually say that George Joseph Herriman (1880 - 1944), the creator of the classic comic strip Krazy Kat, was of African descent all were specific about his origins being from Louisiana. A few admit that his parents were Creole (the debate rages on as to exactly what that is supposed to mean.)

Another biography states that although Herriman was vague and often conflicting with information about his background, someone went through the trouble to search the 1880s census to find his parents listed as Mulatto and that his birth certificate lists him as Negro. He would claim to be of Greek heritage throughout his adult life.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1880, the Herriman family felt the oppressive stress of Southern segregation laws of the 1890s. George's father, a tailor took his family from New Orleans to Los Angeles, CA to (as one bio words it) to avoid being classified as slaves. (Taking into account the enslavement period should have ended in the legal sense before the 1890s--- let us assume this to be a carefully worded way of saying they fled the South to avoid being labeled as 'Negro', 'colored' or Black, thus escaping the indignities of the legalized system of racism.)

George was ten years of age at this time. No doubt William Randolph Hearst, who owned the Krazy Kat comics realized if the artist was ever associated as being Black during the "Birth of a Nation" era of the Woodrow Wilson presidency, readers would reject the comic strip too.

Before turning to cartooning, which in the context of newspaper comic strips specifically was still yet to make an impact in the United States, Mr. Herriman worked at a number of odd jobs, ranging from a house painter, barber, baker, grape seller, dairy farmer & a sideshow barker (announcer). Cartooning was still in its early infancy in 1901 when Mr. Herriman began submitting sketches to various newspapers. For the earlier part of his career, he sold a wide variety of comics, such as sports & political cartoons. By the mid-decade of the 1900s he turned to comic strips. Many of these comics were shorts that ran for just a few days or weeks. Notable cartoons include Baron Bean, & the Dingbat Family (later renamed The Family Upstairs) The Family Upstairs, a comic strip about the trials of an urban family suffering under the bizarre behavior of the never-seen family in the apartment above them, is said to be the earliest occurrence of a Krazy Kat-like situations. It was in the bottom portion of a July 26, 1910 strip showing a mouse popping the Dingbat's cat 'up-side' the head with a pebble. Mr. Herriman continued to feature this mouse assaulting the cat theme in the Family Upstairs strip as a way to fill up empty space. Soon, by popular demand, the cat and mouse got their own story in a small row under the main strip. At the end of 1913, Krazy Kat became an independent comic strip. It was at it's most popular during WWl.

Many say that the surrealistic humor of Krazy Kat went over the heads of most readers. Even the dialogue was different, employing a sort of patois reflective of his Creole background & based upon diverse linguistics borrowed from Native Americans, African Americans, Spanish, Latin, Shakespearean, poetic verse & Yiddish. Added to this amalgam of language, Mr. Herriman had his own unique way of spelling it.

In 1935 color became part of most newspapers and Mr. Herriman met the challenging new dimension in cartooning with as much creativity as he put into his dialogue. His use of colors were as uniquely surreal as the comic. The ground & sky could be purple or golden as well as green. Hills & buttes could appear stripped or polka-dotted. His scenery became more geometric in form as well as the characters themselves. (Some say this was due to his severe arthritis.)

By the latter part of the thirties, Krazy Kat's popularity droped off, but it maintained a cult following among poets, artists, Jazz musicians and writers. One important fan was newspaper mogul, William Randolph Hearst whose company, King Features Syndicate published Krazy Kat. Hearst, a very powerful figure of his time was known to personally 'speak' to editors of his newspapers thus preventing Krazy Kat from disappearing from Hearst papers.

Mr. Herriman married in July of 1902. Two daughters were born of this union. During this time, the family made yearly meccas to Arizona from Los Angeles. He had a fondness for the color and majesty of Monument Valley & the painted desert in Coconino County. The American Southwest was obviously the inspiration for the settings of the comic strip. In 1934, Mr. Herriman suffered the loss of his wife Mabel (not to be confused with his daughter Mabel nicknamed Toots). Then his younger daughter Bobbie (Barbara) in 1939. He never remarried and lived out his life drawing and painting in the company of an assorted menagerie of real life dogs and cats. He continued to perform the work he loved until his death in 1944.

Herriman was known for never taking off his hat while in public ... I have since seen at least one image (his engagement photo) where he's minus his chapeau.

Source: A Salute to Pioneering Cartoonists of Color by Tim Jackson