By
Dennis Myers

Jefferson
High School in Portland, Ore., was built in 1909, and recently a clean
up of its storage room turned up several dozen pieces of art, many of them
by New Deal-era artists like Otis Oldfield and Elinor Stone.Also found
were the originals of 19 cartoons by Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist
Lucius
“Lute” Pease, who was born in Winnemucca, Nevada 140 years ago.

Pease was
a cartoonist for the Oregonian in Portland, editor of the Pacific Monthly
(a literary publication), and cartoonist for the Newark (N.J.) News. His
1948 Pulitzer reportedly made him the oldest person to that time—80 years
old—to win the coveted journalism award.

Jefferson High is trying to raise
$27,000 for restoration and protection of the artworks. In Pease’s case,
that may involve treating the paper on which the cartoons were drawn if
it turns out to be acid based paper. About $5,000 has been raised so far.

Contributions
can be sent to Jefferson Artworks at Jefferson High School 5210 No. Kerby
Ave, Portland, OR 97217. Information on the project is posted at https://jeffersonart.wordpress.com/lute-pease-drawings/

—Reno
News Review, April 23