|
This biography of Cyrus Baldridge, whose illustrations for "Hajji Baba" are used on this site, was kindly written by his friend, Jay Mulberry. Mr. Mulberry also supplied the illustrations on this page.
Cyrus Leroy Baldridge, the illustrator of this tale, was a kind of Hajji Baba himself. Like Hajji he was an adventurer and wonderful story teller whose words drew both kings and paupers. Unlike him, Baldridge was no self promoter, and you were left to guess where he fits in the stories he told.
Born to wealth in 1889, he lost its trappings soon when his mother left his abusive father. She set out as a wandering "drummer" selling kitchen equipment from town to town. His mother's strength left him with an adventurous, strong and utterly independent spirit.
Baldridge’s career in art began during an exceptionally extended stay in Chicago, when the 12-year-old was accepted as the youngest student of a famous illustrator, Frank Holme. Holme became a second father whose training later got him into the University of Chicago. A poor boy in an elite college, he paid his way by drawing signs for campus events and managed to become first in popularity if not in academics by the time he graduated in 1911.
After college life was struggle and fun. While looking for commissions as an illustrator, he worked in a settlement house and became an expert rider in the Illinois National Guard Cavalry. Of a summer, he even worked as a cow hand on the King ranch in Texas. When World War I began, an idealistic Baldridge joined the French army as an ambulance driver. In 1917, American entrance in the War meant his transfer to the American infantry where he was put on the talented team creating the "Stars and Stripes" magazine. The staff included Harold Ross, who was to be founder and legendary editor of "The New Yorker"; Alexander Wolcott, later super-critic for the New York Times; and Baldridge. In charge of illustration for the magazine, Baldridge traveled freely over the battlefields and was deeply moved by its horror. His first book, "I Was There", is a collection of sketches made on the front. It records, better than cameras could, intimate moments of sadness, heroism and relaxation.
After the war, Baldridge joined his life to that of the writer Caroline Singer. Setting up housework in Greenwich Village, they became favorites in the artistic/intellectual circle of New York but followed their own unusual star. With almost no money, they left New York time after time on immense journeys of discovery. To understand better the background of the "Negro Problem" in America, they walked most of the way across Africa from Gold Coast to Ethiopia. Along the way they lived in native villages where Baldridge sketched and communicated with the Africans through pictures. They avoided contact with Europeans, and took no advantage of special treatment then expected by members of their race. From this journey came a marvelous book, written by Caroline Singer and lavishly illustrated by Cyrus Baldridge, "White Africans and Black." It is an elegant and respectful portrayal of black African culture written at a time when most whites saw only big lips and cannibal pots. The experience left them deeply committed to the rights of black Americans. Baldridge beautifully illustrated several books by African Americans and, moreover, kept a lifetime commitment to refuse work with any author who portrayed another race as inferior or ridiculous.
More journeys followed to Asia and the Middle East with other fine books emerging from them. Baldridge and Singer themselves wrote "A Turn to the East", "All the World is Isfahan" and a children’s book, "Boomba Lives in Africa". In addition, the knowledge he gained of customs and styles in the "East" brought Baldridge commissions to illustrate countless books with oriental motifs. One of the foremost of these was the stunning 1939 issue of "Hajji Baba" from which this website was made.
Cyrus Baldridge was not only an artist but a deeply committed citizen. Disillusion following World War I led him to socialism and pacifism which lasted until Pearl Harbor. He was a friend and supporter of the socialist leader Norman Thomas. He was founder and president of an American Legion Post which attempted to counter the enormous right wing faction of the Legion in the 1920's and '30's. In fact, of all his work he was proudest of a small booklet he wrote and illustrated for the Legion called "Americanism: What is It". The booklet was a simple restatement of American values, mostly quoted from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Accepted as a statement of Legion principles, it was distributed free to thousands of schoolrooms until the Legion's right wing saw subversion in its words and launched a grand battle which forced its withdrawal.
In the 1940's, Cyrus Baldridge illustrated many books and magazine articles and in 1947 he wrote his own autobiography: "Time and Chance". The book is both splendidly written and lavishly illustrated. It was well received and went into a number of printings so that in 1951, he and Caroline could retire to Santa Fe, New Mexico. There they lived simply in a small adobe house among like-minded free-spirits. In Santa Fe, Baldridge began to seriously work in oils. In thirty years he hiked virtually the whole of northern New Mexico, sketching with water colors and coming home to complete his work in oils. He produced innumerable landscapes and still-lives many of which now hang in the University of Wyoming.
Caroline Singer died around 1960. Cyrus Baldridge remained incredibly active and vigorous, full of stories and opinions, until he died in 1977.
Return Home
|
|
