Victor Gillam

Frederick Victor Gillam was a political cartoonist best known for his two-decade run at *Judge* magazine, where his satirical illustrations shaped American public opinion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born around 1858 in Yorkshire, England, he emigrated to the United States at age six. His career spanned newspapers including the *St. Louis Dispatch*, *Denver Times*, *New York World*, and *New York Globe*, but his most enduring work appeared in *Judge* from 1886 to 1904. He was a member of the New York Press Club and Lotos Club.

Gillam’s style was sharp and partisan, notably supporting William McKinley’s 1896 presidential campaign through his cartoons. He signed his work as “Victor” or “F. Victor” until the death of his older brother, the famed cartoonist Bernhard Gillam, in 1896. After that, he adopted his full name. His collaborations were primarily with the editorial staffs of the periodicals he served, and he contributed to 22 issues in our catalog.

Victor Gillam died on January 29, 1920, at Kings County Hospital, aged 61 or 62, and was buried in Evergreens Cemetery, Brooklyn. While he never received major awards in his lifetime, his work remains a vivid record of Gilded Age politics and the power of the political cartoon.