Rose O’Neill

Rose Cecil O'Neill (June 25, 1874 – April 6, 1944) was an American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer. She became famous when she created the popular comic strip characters, Kewpies, in 1909.^[1] She was the first published female cartoonist in the United States.

Rose O’Neill
O'Neill pictured ca. 1907
Born	Rose Cecil O'Neill (1874-06-25)June 25, 1874 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	April 6, 1944(1944-04-06) (aged 69) Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Area(s)	Cartoonist writer artist
Notable works	Kewpie
Spouse(s)	Gray Latham ​ (m. 1896⁠–⁠1901)​ Harry Leon Wilson ​ ​ (m. 1902⁠–⁠1907)​

She grew up in rural Nebraska. Her father was a book salesman. ^Her mother was a homemaker. She bacame interested in the arts when she was still young. She wenmt to New York City to become an illustrator. She first published her Kewpie cartoons in 1909 in Ladies' Home Journal. In 1912, bisque dolls were made from them. The dolls were very popular. They are seen as one of the first mass-marketed dolls in the United States.

O'Neill also wrote several novels and books of poetry, and was active in the women's suffrage movement. For a time, she was the highest-paid female illustrator in the world because of the success of the Kewpie dolls.^[2] O'Neill has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

In 2022 at San Diego Comic Con, Rose O'Neill was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame as a Comic Pioneer.^[3]

Gallery

• 
  "When We All Believe": An illustration of children surrounding Santa Claus for the 1903 issue of Puck
• 
• 
  Kewpie votes for women postcard, 1914

References

1. McCabe et al. 2016.
2. "Rose O'Neill". The State Historical Society of Missouri. Archived from the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
3. "2022 Eisner Awards". July 23, 2022.

Sources

• Appel, Phyllis (2010). The Missouri Connection: Profiles of the Famous and Infamous. Graystone Enterprises LLC. ISBN 978-0-9845381-0-2.
• "Catalogue of Copyright Entries. New Series: 1931, Part 1". U.S. Library of Congress. 1931. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• "Five Novels We Talked About". Book News: An Illustrated Magazine of Literature and Books. XXIII. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: John Wanamaker. 1905.
• Formanek-Brunell, Miriam (1998). Made to Play House: Dolls and the Commercialization of American Girlhood, 1830–1930. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-6062-1.
• Kindilein, Carlin T.; et al. (January 1, 1971). James, Edward T.; Wilson, Janet Wilson; Boyer, Paul (eds.). Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Vol. 3. Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-62734-5.
• King, Alexander (November 24, 1934). "Profile: Kewpie Doll". The New Yorker. New York, New York, U.S.
• McCabe, Caitlin; et al. (October 11, 2016). CBLDF Presents: She Changed Comics. Image Comics. ISBN 978-1-63215-929-8.
• O'Neill, Rose (1997). Formanek-Brunell, Miriam (ed.). The Story of Rose O'Neill: An Autobiography. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-1106-4.
• O'Neill, Rose (1904). The Loves of Edwy. Lothrop. ISBN 9781434410566.
• Prieto, Laura R. (2001). At Home in the Studio: The Professionalization of Women Artists in America. Harvard University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-674-00486-3.
• Robbins, Trina (2013). Pretty In Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896–2013. Fantagraphics. ISBN 978-1-60699-669-0.