IRC

Get the Picture with Joe Stern

When Roy Bergengren launched The Bridge as the official periodical of the credit union movement in June 1924, the Little Man Under the Umbrella made his first appearance as the official movement logo. He was featured at the head of a column called "Under the Umbrella," and also served as "The Bridge Tender," wearing railroad cap and overalls and waving a flag declaring "The Bridge is Open."

The Little Man was the creation of Joe Stern, artist for The Boston Herald. Bergengren asked Stern to provide a logo for credit unions in 1923, but each submission did not appeal to Bergengren. Then one day, the Little Man floated out of a sheaf of Stern's papers and landed at Bergengren's feet. He was delighted. Here at last was a symbol for the average man, "besieged by financial difficulties," to whom the credit union would provide assistance.

Bergengren described him as "a stubby little man plodding home in the rain, his arms full of bundles. He is protected from the elements by an enormous old umbrella." Over the next 40 years, the Little Man appeared in many guises and was used in countless ways to promote credit unions. Joe Stern became the official artist for the credit union movement.

Stern preferred the title artist rather than cartoonist. He had exceptional talent for sketching gatherings and delivering the finished product to the paper the next day. He attended many famous trials to illustrate stories on them in the next day's press. Many judges had his originals framed on their chamber walls.

Born on November 12, 1891 in Nariyov, Austria, Stern came to the United States with his parents in 1898. As a child, he spent much of his time with pencil and paper sketching friends, neighbors, classmates and people he saw in the street. He began his newspaper career with the Lynn (MA) Item and the Lynn Telegram in 1907 as a newsboy artist. He left those papers in 1910 to pursue a freelance career in illustration. In 1922, he signed on with The New York World, and a year later, he began a 46-year career with The Boston Herald-Traveler. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in political cartooning in 1949, a tribute to the quality of his work.

During his credit union career, Stern produced cartoons for The Bridge, depicting the credit union defeat of usurers, promoting savings and thrift and welcoming new credit union leagues to the fold. Almost every credit union event was celebrated in a Joe Stern cartoon. He displayed his talent for sketching groups in illustrations of the Massachusetts Credit Union League outings and meetings. These showed credit unionists in characteristic poses. He was a master at capturing the essence of a person or an event.

He also illustrated holiday covers for The Bridge and was especially fond of Christmas and New Year's cartoons. He had a lively imagination, which made many of the cartoons humorous and appealing.

The Little Man Under the Umbrella, however, was his masterpiece, and he received a trademark award for it. During World War II, the Little Man appeared in uniform, carrying knapsack and rifle. He also rode a tank. In these guises, he was used to sell war bonds through credit unions.

At the annual meeting in 1959, CUNA honored Stern's work in celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Massachusetts Credit Union Act. The Credit Union Executives Society made him an honored guest at their 1964 conference. He received a large cardboard reproduction of the updated version of the Little Man.

In addition to his artistic career, Joe Stern was a trustee of the Boys Clubs of Boston and was active in creating scholarships for newsboys.

He died on April 23, 1971 in Brookline, Massachusetts. The CUNA Executive Committee passed a resolution honoring his work for credit unions. His own trademarks included a distinctive signature or initials that appear on all his drawings, a green eyeshade and a long black cigar.

Many originals of his drawings still exist in private collections, as well as at the presidential libraries of Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Several are also in the archives of the Credit Union National Association.

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