John Miller Baer Cartoons

Collection

Identifier: Photo Folio 108

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The John Miller Baer Cartoon collection consists of twenty-four original ink drawings by Mr. Baer, most of which were used in the Nonpartisan Leader publication. The provenance to the collection is not known. Whether they were donated by Mr. Baer or from a third party is not known. Almost all have Baer’s initials ‘JMB’ included as well as the year they were drawn. Most date from 1916 to 1918. There is one dated 1920 and one likely done in 1933. The cartoons have no particular order within the collection.

Dates

1916-1933

Creator

Baer, John Miller, 1886-1970. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The copyright status is unknown, likely all images are in the public domain.

Biography

John Miller Baer was born on a farm at Black Creek, Outagamie County, Wisconsin on March 29, 1886. He graduated from Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin in 1909 and moved to Beach, N.D. From 1909 to 1915 he worked as a civil engineer and also managed the farm of his father-in-law J.R. Smith. He married Estella G. Kennedy of Minneapolis, Minn. on Dec. 28, 1910, the daughter of J.R. Smith. Baer also served as postmaster at Beach from 1909 to 1915. He became active in the Nonpartisan League from the beginning. A.C. Townley, one of the formative leaders of the Nonpartisan League also farmed in the Beach, N.D. area and was acquainted with Baer. Townley persuaded him to resign as Beach postmaster and become the chief cartoonist for the league. Baer moved to Fargo, N.D. where he began drawing cartoons for the league’s newspaper the Courier-News and later the Nonpartisan Leader. In 1916 he was elected as the Nonpartisan League candidate to the U.S. House of Representatives. He filled the vacancy caused by the death of Henry T. Helgesen. Baer served from July 10, 1917 to March 3, 1921. He lost his reelection bid in the 1920 election. Thereafter he resumed his activities as a cartoonist and journalist with the Labor, a weekly newspaper published in Washington, D.C. by the national railroad unions. He continued in the cartooning field the next fifty years, living in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He is credited coining the term ‘New Deal’ in a 1931 cartoon that was used as a campaign slogan by Franklin D. Roosevelt. John Miller and Estella Baer had three sons, John II, Byron and Alfred. The elder son was the eighth John M. Baer in unbroken sequence, born in America. John Miller Baer died in Washington, D.C. on February 18, 1970 and buried at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Silver Spring, Maryland. Additional biographical information can be found in Institute Small Collection 622.