Mike Meltzer

pbsthisdayinhistory:

MARCH 2, 1904: DR. SEUSS BORN

On this day in 1904, Theodor Seuss Geisel was born. He would have been 108 today.

Most people know Dr. Seuss as the man behind The Cat in the Hat. But how many know that Yertle the Turtle was modeled after Hitler – or that Dr. Seuss created WWII political cartoons that denounced racism, isolationism and other issues of the day?

From 1941 to 1943, Seuss served as chief editorial cartoonist for the New York liberal newspaper PM, and his work commented on issues of the day. His political cartoons during World War II denounced isolationism, racism and anti-Semitism.

However, in Dr. Seuss Goes to War, historian Richard H. Minear, writes: “…it is a surprise that a person who denounces anti-black racism and anti-Semitism so eloquently can be oblivious of his own racist treatment of Japanese and Japanese Americans…. to realize that the cartoonist is the same Dr. Seuss we celebrate today for his imagination and tolerance and breadth of vision: this is a sobering experience.”

Flip through Independent Lens’ “The Political Dr. Seuss” photo gallery.

Images: Dr. Seuss/ Random House