Signe Wilkinson (born July 25, 1950, in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

) is an editorial cartoonist best known for her work at the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

''. Her work is described as having a "unique style and famous irreverence." Wilkinson is the only female editorial cartoonist whose work has been distributed by a major syndicate. Wilkinson is the first female cartoonist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning (1992) and was once named "the Pennsylvania state vegetable substitute" by the former speaker of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

. In 2011, Wilkinson received
Visionary Woman Award
from

Moore College of Art & Design Moore College of Art & Design is a Private college, private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its undergraduate programs are available only for female students, but its other educational programs, including graduate programs, are co-ed ...

. She has also won four Overseas Press Club Awards and two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for Cartooning, along with other various awards.

Biography

Early life and education

Wilkinson was born into a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

family in

on July 25, 1950. She later received a Bachelor of Arts in English at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

. After earning her degree, she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; to support herself, she later worked with graphic design at the Academy of Natural Sciences, and various regional newspapers hired her as a stringer.

Career

After Wilkinson received her BA in English, she began to pursue careers in journalism. She worked as a reporter, stringing for the ''Daily Post'', the King of Prussia, and the West Chester ''Daily Local News''. She also worked for the Quakers and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University before working for a housing project in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. This job shortly ended due to a coup d'état in Cyprus, followed by a military invasion from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Once Wilkinson returned to reporting, she would draw the people she reported on. Realizing her interest in both art and politics, Wilkinson attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for the duration of a year. During her time at the art school, she stringed for various Philadelphia and New York publications. In 1982, she earned a full-time job at the '' San Jose Mercury News'' where she spent three and a half years working as a cartoonist. In the mid 1980s, Wilkinson went on to work for the ''

'' as a cartoonist where she still draws five cartoons a week. In 1992, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. The same year, she released her first collection of cartoons entitled, ''Abortion Cartoons on Demand''. Additionally, Wilkinson has also created cartoons for ''

Working Woman Since the industrial revolution, participation of women in the workforce outside the home has increased in industrialized nations, with particularly large growth seen in the 20th century. Largely seen as a boon for industrial society, women in ...

'', ''

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

'', ''

Organic Gardening Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety preserva ...

'', the Institute for Research on Higher Education and several other publications, such as the

Friends Journal ''Friends Journal'' is a monthly Quaker magazine that combines first-person narrative, reportage, poetry, and news. ''Friends Journal'' began publishing in 1827 and 1844 with the founding of ''The Friend'' (Orthodox, 1827—1955) and ''The Friend ...

and the

University Barge Club University Barge Club of Philadelphia (also known as UBC) is an amateur rowing club located at #7 in the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Hist ...

newspaper. In 1992, she published her first collection of her work, entitled ''Abortion Cartoons on Demand''. In 2005, she released her second collection of cartoons, ''One Nation, Under Surveillance: Cartoon Rants on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Privacy''. She served as president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists from 1994 to 1995. On November 21, 2007, Wilkinson launched a syndicated daily comic strip with United Media entitled ''Family Tree''. This strip focused on environmental issues. 'Family Tree' concluded on August 27, 2011. For ''

'' magazine, Wilkinson created a comic strip entitled ''Shrubbery'' that centered on botanical and political topics. The Washington Post Writers Group syndicated Wilkinson's cartoons.

Personal life

Wilkinson and her husband live in Pennsylvania with their two birds, five goldfish, and a dog named "Ginger."

Awards

* 1991: Berryman Award * 1992: Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning * 1996: Overseas Press Club Award-

Thomas Nast Award Thomas Nast (; ; September 26, 1840December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was a critic of Democratic Representative "Boss" Tweed and t ...

* 2000: Overseas Press Club Award- Thomas Nast Award * 2002:

Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism is a journalism award named after Robert F. Kennedy and awarded by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. The annual awards are issued in several categories and were est ...

- Cartoon * 2006: Overseas Press Club Award- Thomas Nast Award * 2008:

- Cartoon * 2011: Visionary Woman Award from

* 2013: Aronson Award for Cartooning- Cartooning with a Conscience * 2014: Overseas Press Club Award- Thomas Nast Award

Notable works

* ''Abortion Cartoons on Demand'' (Cartoonist Group, 1992) * ''One Nation, Under Surveillance: Cartoon Rants on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Privacy'' (Cartoonist Group, 2005) * Illustrations for ''Mike McGrath's Book of Compost'' by Mike McGrath (Sterling, 2006) * Illustrations for ''You Bet Your Tomatoes'' by Mike McGrath (re-issued in 2008) * Illustrations for ''Joe Sixpack's Philly Beer Guide'' by Don Russell (Camino Books, 2008). * Contributor to cartoon collection of ''Sex and Sensibility: Ten Women Examine the Lunacy of Modern Love in 200 Cartoons'' (Twelve, 2008) * ''Family Tree'' with United Media (November 21, 2007 – August 27, 2011) * ''Shrubbery'' for

References

External links

*
''Family Tree''
at GoComics * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Signe 1959 births Living people American editorial cartoonists American comic strip cartoonists American female comics artists Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners People from Wichita Falls, Texas Artists from Texas American women cartoonists 21st-century American women