Jan C. Gosnell Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 728

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains Gosnell's original cartoon drawings published in The Baxter Bulletin, Stone County Leader, Star Progress, The Fayetteville Funnies, The Fayetteville Free Weekly, and other Arkansas papers; rough sketches and drawings for his book Shape Makes the Man?; art, text, published materials, and correspondence regarding his children's book, Sid the Sock Cannibal; a selection of Gosnell's sketchbook journals, some of which were co-created with friends and fellow artists Ralph Ivy, Don Cunnion, and Wayne Herndon; and prints and drawings by both Gosnell and friends and students.

Dates

1961-2017

Creator

Gosnell, Jan (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

Restrictions apply: Copyright on donor's cartoons in Boxes 1-6 is retained by donor and family.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Jan C. Gosnell is a Fayetteville, Arkansas-based artist, cartoonist, and writer.

Gosnell was born January 9, 1943 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was educated at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he earned Bachelor and Masters degrees in Arts. He taught for one year at the University of Mississippi at Oxford and in 1972 opened The Gallery in Mountain Home, Arkansas, where he offered instruction in drawing, painting, and modern art history.

Gosnell's political cartoons appeared regularly in The Baxter Bulletin (Mountain Home, Arkansas), The Star Progress (Berryville, Arkansas), and other local newspapers between 1972 and 1984, as well as more recently in publications like the Fayetteville Free Weekly. He has also participated in a number of exhibitions where he entered his other works of art, including oil paintings, watercolors, pen and ink drawings, and photographs. He is the author of Shape Makes the Man? (1979) and Sid the Sock Cannibal (2016) and a motion picture, The Blue and the Gray (1983).

Extent

20.73 Linear Feet (24 boxes)

Additional Description

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into eight series:

The Fayetteville Funnies, 1980-1981
Shape Makes the Man?, 1979
Newspaper editorial cartoons, 1972-2010
Sid the Sock Cannibal, ca 1977-2016
Sketch journals, 1961-2015
Press coverage, 2017
Prints and drawings, circa 1964-2010
Award materials, 1973-1982

Acquisition Information

Jan C. Gosnell of Fayetteville, Arkansas, first donated his papers to Special Collections in July 1987. Gosnell donated additional materials (Boxes 7-23) on November 20, 2017. He donated additional materials (Box 24) on August 26, 2022.

Separated Materials

Additional issues of the Fayetteville Free Weekly, have been cataloged as part of the Arkansas Collection.

Processing Information

Processed by Vera Ekechukwu, February 1994. Special Collections Division, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Additional materials (Boxes 7-23) incorporated by Katrina Windon, with assistance from Elysa Barton, in December 2017. Additional materials (Box 24) incorporated into the collection by Katrina Windon in August 2022.