Lucy Shelton Caswell Billy Ireland: Columbus’s Most Famous Cartoonist

One of the country’s most acclaimed and influential cartoonists in the early 20th century, Billy Ireland was born in Chillicothe and hired right out of high school by the Columbus Dispatch in 1898. He worked for the Columbus daily until his death in 1935, producing cartoons for the editorial pages and the Sunday paper.

Ireland was best known for The Passing Show, a full-page Sunday strip where he commented on everything from visiting celebrities to local politics to the state of the Ohio State football team. Lucy Shelton Caswell, curator of Ohio State’s Cartoon Research Library, discusses his colorful life and career in conjunction with the publication of a new edition of Billy Ireland, her beautifully illustrated book on the cartoonist. Cosponsored by Ohio State’s Cartoon Research Library.

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Detail from Billy Ireland's The Passing Show, September 30, 1923