W. A. (William Allen) Rogers

Born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1854, William Allen Rogers taught himself to draw and began getting cartoons published while still young. After time at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Wittenberg College without taking a degree, he moved into newspaper work and started building a career as an illustrator and cartoonist.

Rogers worked for important publications including the Daily Graphic, Harper’s Weekly, Life, and later the New York Herald and The Washington Post. He became especially known as a political cartoonist, using humor and strong visual storytelling to comment on public figures, current events, and national debates.

His career stretched across a remarkable period in American history, and his images now survive in libraries, museums, and archives. He retired from The Washington Post in 1926 and died in Washington, D.C., in 1931.