| Accession Number: | MA 11:01 |
| Location: | MA-BIO Cr (Compton) |
| Dates: | c. 1940 – c. 2000 |
| Size: | 6 boxes |
| Creator/Collector: | Collected by Joseph Crouch |
| Acquisition info: | Gift of Lesa Meierotto (daughter) on behalf of Joseph C. Crouch to SLPL Special Collections |
| Accruals: | No accruals expected |
| Custodial history: | The Joseph Couch Collection was donated by Lesa Meierotto (daughter). The collection was assembled over time by Crouch and donated in several boxes with little order to the materials. |
| Language: | English |
| Processed by: | Sarah Cain, August 2013 |
| Conservation notes: | All items placed into archival boxes and acid-free folders, with exception of 4 works too large for boxes. |
| Scope and Content: | The collection contains Joseph Crouch’s original drawings, painting, and sketches; clippings from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and its supplemental sections and magazines—Sunday Pictures, Everyday and You Sections, and TV Magazine—where his much of his work was published. Crouch collection also has contains some biographical information and personal correspondence, mainly about his work published in the Post-Dispatch. Joe Crouch was a St. Louis native and an artist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 34 years. Drafted for service in WWII at the age of 19, Joe practiced his art every chance he got while in Europe. After the Axis fell, Joe was able to study in Biarritz, France while awaiting his return home to the States. He studied at Washington University shortly after he returned home to St. Louis. After completing his education, Joe started his career the late 1940s as a commercial artist for department stores such as Famous Barr and Stix Baer & Fuller (Dillard’s) to design advertisement to sell product. In 1955, Joe was hired by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as part of the News Department where he was assigned to illustrate the “Martha Carr” advice column. During his 34 year career (1955-1989), Joe became a mainstay of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Everyday, TV Magazine, and Sunday Pictures publications. Joe was able to expose St. Louis readers to various art forms, including quilling, paper sculpture, and watercolor paintings during career at the Post-Dispatch. In 1989, he retired from the Post-Dispatch and presently continues his passion for drawing and painting what he likes—often his family and pets. Joe remained active in the field by teaching art classes in the St. Louis area in addition to creating original Christmas postcards for his friends and old colleagues. Little is known about Joe’s personal life other than he has a wife, Madeline, and five daughters— Jill, Laura, Lesa, Kathy, and Claudia. |
| Arrangement: | Collection organized into series. Series 1: Papers Series 2: Photographs Series 3: Artwork Within series, arrangement is categorical and then alphabetical. |
| Restrictions: | Permission required by artist or the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to reproduce images. Copyright held by Post-Dispatch for works created and published in P-D publications. Copyright held by artist for other artworks. |
| Remarks: |
Joseph Crouch Collection
c. 1940 – c. 2002
1 legal Hollinger, 1 Records box, 4 flat Hollingers; 10.0 cu. ft.
| Box/Folder | Description |
| Box 1: Papers & Photographs | |
| 1/1 | Finding aid |
| Series 1: Papers | |
| 1/2 | Biographical information |
| 1/3 | Fan and thank you letters |
| 1/4 | Invitation, Spring Showing of Fine Arts by Newspaper Artists and Photographers, April 6, 1969 |
| 1/5 | Invitation, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: An exhibit and sale of original art by the news artist of the Post-Dispatch, January 11-31, 1976 |
| 1/6 | Pulitzer Publishing Company Suggestion System Award, October 20, 1978 |
| 1/7 | Post-Dispatch, interoffice letters |
| 1/8 | Post-Dispatch, Request of Graphics form and template (draft & final version) |
| 1/9 | Miscellaneous |
| Series 2: Photographs | |
| 1/10 | Photos – Art by Crouch |
| 1/11 | Photos – Lee Harvey Oswald; Jack Ruby (Lee Harvey Oswald killer) (2) |
| 1/12 | Photos – Negatives and slides of artwork |
| 4/1 | Photos – River Queen Steamboat, received October 20, 1964 (sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket during the late 19th century) |
| Series 3: Artwork | |
| 1/13 | Clippings of published artwork, 1960s-1980s |
| 1/14 | Post-Dispatch, Television Magazine, 1965-1989 |
| 1/15 | Post-Dispatch, proposed logos and Mast head sectional insignia |
| 1/16 | Post-Dispatch, artworks for newspaper and supplements |
| 1/17 | Post-Dispatch, Weatherbird |
| 1/18 | Advertisements – Quality Dairy Company |
| 1/19 | Advertisements – accessories |
| 1/20 | Advertisements – clothing |
| 1/21 | Advertisements – electronic equipment |
| Box 2: Artwork | |
| 2A/- | Illustrations, Martha Carr Column, STL Post-Dispatch Everyday Magazine, c. 1960s-1970s |
| 2B/- | Illustrations, Martha Carr Column, STL Post-Dispatch Everyday Magazine, c. 1960s-1970s |
| 2C/- | Original artwork (plaster impression sculpture, water color), Johnny Carson. Published in: St. Louis Post-Dispatch TV Magazine (cover), May 26-June 1, 1974 |
| 2C/- | Plaque (electrolytic or acid etching on brass?), Christmas/Silent night theme using St. Louis Cathedrals Cathedral Basilica Saint Louis and Old Cathedral/Cathedral of Saint Louis/Basilica of St. Louis, King of France. Published in: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Everyday, Friday, December 24, 1976 |
| Box 3: Artwork (oversized) | |
| 3/- | Ronald Reagan, paper sculpture [in shadow box] |
| 3/- | Ted Turner, paper sculpture. Published in: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine, November 21, 1982, “Ted Turner, still going for broke” |
| 3/- | Republican elephant and Democrat donkey, paper sculpture [wetfolding origami?]. Published in: St. Louis Post-Dispatch TV Magazine, July 15-21, 1984, “As the parties butt heads…test our political convention IQ” (TV Magazine cover) |
| 3/- | Santa, quilled artwork. Published in: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Everyday, Monday, December 24, 1973, “Noel” |
| 3/1 | St. Louis Post-Dispatch Everyday Section (pp. C1-C8), Monday, December 24, 1973, “Noel”; Oversized photo print. |
| 3/- | Cowboy or gunslinger, watercolor painting |
| 3/- | Cow skull, Southwestern Americana watercolor painting |
| 3/- | Claudia (Crouch) DeCosta, Doug DeCosta, grayscale watercolor & ink. Published in: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Pictures, p. 24, September 25, 1977 “A calling in the Rockies” |
| 3/- | “Mariner IV, Mars, Wednesday, July 14 [1964]” |
| 3/- | “Auto-motif” (Received August 22, 1974) (airbrush). Published in: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Pictures, September 15, 1974 |
| Box 4: Artwork & Photographs (oversized) | |
| 4/- | Tugboat pushing barges (ink) |
| 4/- | St. Louis Union Station and Carl Milles' fountain sculpture Meeting Waters (watercolor; pencil draft w/color labels on tracing paper) |
| 4/1 | Photos – Riverfront, River Queen Steamboat, 1964 |
| 4/2 | Artwork – Color prints |
| 4/3 | Artwork – Post-Dispatch |
| 4/4 | Artwork – Watercolor |
| 4/5 | Clippings – St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1962-1980 |
| 4/6 | Clippings – St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Everyday Section, 1966-1990 |
| 4/7 | Clippings – St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday Pictures, 1960-1984 |
| 4/8 | Clippings – St. Louis Post-Dispatch, You Section, 1987-1989 |
| Box 5: Artwork (oversized) | |
| 5/- | Watercolor, ink, pencil, airbrush, and mixed media artwork. Most featured in Post-Dispatch newspapers and magazines, some advertising illustrations. Most oversized. |
| Box 6: Artwork | |
| 6/- | Margaret Thatcher, paper sculpture [in shadow box] |
| 6/- | “Making of a cover for picture magazines” using St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday Pictures, January 23, 1977, “The war on flab” (8 panels) |
Oversized (not in boxes)
“Sam and Dick” [Samuel James "Sam" Ervin, Jr. and Richard Nixon], paper sculptures
[housed in 2 viewing boxes, each approx. 8x10”] with St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday
Pictures, July 15, 1972, “Confrontation in a historic chamber” cover page
“Dr. Martin Luther King March After Assassination” watercolor painting, framed.
Published in: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday Pictures, May 14, 1972 “In search of the
dream of Martin Luther King”
“Campaign ’76: Putting the Best Face Forward”--Gerald Ford (portrayed as Washington)
and Jimmy Carter (portrayed as Lincoln), watercolor painting. Published in: St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, Sunday Pictures, October 24, 1976
“Updating the political circus: More than the tent can hold”, paper sculpture [housed in
shadowbox approx. 16” x 24” x 4”]. Published in: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday
Pictures, October 15, 1972, pages 14
