Jay Norwood Darling (October 21, 1876 – February 12, 1962), better known as Ding Darling, was an American cartoonist who won two

Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

. He was an important figure in the 20th century conservation movement and founded the

National Wildlife Federation The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization in the United States, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations (i ...

. In addition, he was known to be close friends with

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

Early life

Darling was born in Norwood, Michigan, where his parents, Clara R. (Woolson) and Marcellus Warner Darling, had recently moved so that Marcellus could begin work as a minister. In 1886, the family moved to

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

, where Darling developed an early appreciation for nature and wildlife during days spent wandering the prairie. He began to learn the importance of conservation as a youth after an uncle admonished him for shooting a wood duck during nesting season. Darling began college in 1894 at

Yankton College Yankton College was a private liberal arts college in Yankton, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with the Congregational Christian Churches (later the United Church of Christ). Yankton College produced nine Rhodes Scholars, more than any ...

in South Dakota and moved to

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1846 when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It has an enrollment of roughly 1,000 undergradua ...

in Wisconsin the following year, where he began his studies in pre-medicine and became a member of

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, , it consist ...

. While at Beloit he became art editor of the yearbook and began signing his work with a contraction of his last name, D'ing, a nickname that stuck.

Editorial cartoons

In 1900, Ding became a reporter for the '' Sioux City Journal''. Following his marriage to Genevieve Pendleton in 1906, he began work with the '' Des Moines Register and Leader''. In 1911, he moved to New York and worked with the '' New York Globe'' but went back to Des Moines in 1913. Three years later, in 1916, he returned to New York and accepted a position with the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

''. By 1919, Darling returned a final time to Des Moines where he continued his career as a cartoonist, winning the

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer may refer to: *Joseph Pulitzer, a 19th century media magnate *Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award *Pulitzer (surname) *Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain *Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-prof ...

in 1924 and again in 1943. His cartoons were published from 1917 to 1949 in the ''New York Herald Tribune''.

Wildlife conservation

Darling penned some conservation cartoons, and he was an important figure in the

conservation movement The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the ...

. President Franklin Roosevelt appointed him to a blue-ribbon Committee on Wildlife Restoration in 1934. FDR sought political balance by putting the Hoover Republican on the committee, knowing he was an articulate advocate for wildlife management. Following the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act in 1934, which required

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

hunters to purchase a Federal Duck Stamp before hunting, Darling designed the first Federal Duck Stamp that year and was appointed Director of the Bureau of Biological Survey, a forerunner of the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island in southwest Florida is named after him, as is the Lake Darling State Park in

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

that was dedicated on September 17, 1950. Lake Darling, a 9,600-acre lake at the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge is also named in his honor. More recently a lodge at the National Conservation Training Center near Shepherdstown, West Virginia was named in his honor. Darling was elected as a member of the

Boone and Crockett Club The Boone and Crockett Club is an American nonprofit organization that advocates fair chase hunting in support of habitat conservation. The club is North America's oldest wildlife and habitat conservation organization, founded in the United S ...

, a wildlife conservation organization, on December 13, 1934. He was instrumental in founding the

in 1936, when President Franklin Roosevelt convened the first North American Wildlife Conference (now the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference), administered by the American Wildlife Institute (now Wildlife Management Institute).

Awards

Darling twice received the

for his work with the ''Register & Tribune''. Darling was first awarded the prize in 1924 for his work "In the Good Old USA" and again in 1943 for "What a Place For a Waste Paper Salvage Campaign". He was awarded the Audubon Medal in 1960 by

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

for "outstanding achievement in the field of conservation and environmental protection".

References

External links