"Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and raised in rural Nebraska, self-taught illustrator Rose O’Neill (1874-1944) broke new ground for women in the worlds of art and publishing, and helped to secure the right of women to vote.
O’Neill grew up in an artistic household where she practiced many different art forms. She first achieved success at the age of thirteen when she won a drawing prize from the Omaha World-Herald. Throughout her teenage years, O’Neill’s work appeared in additional regional newspapers, and at the age of nineteen moved to New York City to further her career.
Her work was soon published in the pages of Truth, Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and other magazines. A comic strip O’Neill wrote titled 'The Old Subscriber Calls' was printed in the September 19, 1896 issue of Truth, notable for being the first published comic strip created by a woman. The following year she joined the staff of Puck, where she was the only woman working there until 1903.
In 1909 O’Neill created the popular characters the Kewpies. The elf-like figures were an instant success, and the public developed an insatiable demand for Kewpie dolls. The merchandising of Kewpies made O’Neill a millionaire.
O’Neill became very involved in the women’s suffrage movement beginning in 1915. She gave speeches, illustrated posters, and marched in parades until women received the right to vote in 1920." — https://www.nrm.org/2020/07/rose-oneill-artist-suffragette/?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=O'NeillPressRelease-ToHistoryList&utm_content=version_A
