NJ Assemblyman Wants Thomas Nast Off Hall Of Fame Nomination List

December 14, 2011 11:26 AM

Thomas Nast Self Portrait

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TRENTON, NJ (WCBS 880) - His cartoons famously depicted Santa Claus and Uncle Sam, but there’s a move afoot to keep Thomas Nast out of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

WCBS 880′s Peter Haskell On The Story

Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo of Mercer County says some of Nast’s cartoons were demeaning and demoralizing to Irish-Americans.

He wants Nast’s name removed from nomination for the hall.

“I’m not saying take down his artwork. I’m saying that I don’t support this individual,” DeAngelo told WCBS 880 reporter Peter Haskell.

Supporters of Nast say the 19th century works were really targeting Tammany Hall specifically and not Irish-Americans in general.

What do you think? Should Nast get into the New Jersey Hall of Fame? Sound off in the comments section below!

NJ Assemblyman Wants Thomas Nast Off Hall Of Fame Nomination List

Tim Wilson

Tom Nast was a bigot towards Irish, Catholics, and Mormons. DP, I don’t see how drawing an APE is a recognizable trait for an Irishman! Nast was also a Nativist supporter, you know the group that went around burning Catholic churches in Philadelphia and New York. Ken88, no one is whining, we in the Irish community are sick and tired of people like you that think its ok to stereotype the Irish as drunks or violent people. Enough is enough! Do the right thing and remove Nast as a nominee!
That Derek

Would Nast be able tio get in with a Roger Naris-like asterisk next to his name?
http://hallowedground.wordpress.com/ ken88

Oh please, enough with everybody being “offended” all the time, like a pack of whiney children. Why not take George Washington off of the dollar bill while your at it? He owned slaves, don’t you know…Silly. People need to grow up, and act like rational adults. Well, he got in the news, maybe that’s all he wanted…
DP

A German Protestant was likely not to look kindly on a group that was Catholic, and so tightly connected to the power base of Tammany Hall. The people who used Tammany Hall and its constituency also did not do so much to help Irish people, either (which was also a topic of a number of Nast’s cartoons). Stereotypes are always a touchy subject, but they work only if there is something recognizable in them. Nast used them, but he also did it in a way that showed more depth about the conditions and issues surrounding the Irish community *of the day.* It strikes me that it does little disservice to people of Irish ancestry to include the contributions of Nash in NJ’s Hall of Fame.