Sam Milai ( March 23, 1908-April 30, 1970)  was an artist and cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Courier for thirty-three years.  He won the National Newspaper Publisher’s Association Russwurm trophy for the best cartoon eight times during his career.  In addition to his editorial cartoons, Milai created a cartoon series titled Facts about the Negro that celebrated the accomplishments of people of color.  During the late 1930s, he also contributed a comic strip to the newspaper.  He taught part time at Pittsburgh’s Ivey School of Professional Art from 1964-1967 and was teaching full-time at the Pittsburgh Art Institute at the time of his death.

Most of Milai’s work was not returned to him after publication.  The cartoons in this exhibition were found by his granddaughter stored in a suitcase in her mother’s attic.  Sam Milai was a centrist who disdained all forms of extremism.  He was loyal to Lyndon Johnson, and some of his pro-Johnson cartoons are housed in the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library.

            Sam Milai of the Pittsburgh Courier documents Milai’s mature work during the last seven years of his life.  These cartoons document both the hopes and the frustrations that the African American community experienced during the 1960s.  All of the works in this exhibition are from the Sam Milai Collection of The Ohio State University Cartoon Library and Museum.  The physical exhibit was on display at The Ohio State University Cartoon Library and Museum’s Reading Room Gallery from September 22-December 31, 2008.