
Clifford Berryman cartoon, "St. Patrick!!" (17 March 1922)
A Berryman drawing for St. Patrick's Day 1922: Mr. D.C. recoils from snakes labelled "Poison Liquor," "Bootlegger" and "Bookmaker." The National Archives note reads it as the District's Prohibition-era troubles.
- Date
- 1922-03-17
- Kind
- photograph
- Source
- National Archives Catalog, Records of the U.S. Senate (RG 46), Berryman Political Cartoon Collection
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- NAID
- 6011716
- Rights
- A drawing by Clifford K. Berryman in the Records of the U.S. Senate (Record Group 46), series "Berryman Political Cartoon Collection" (NAID 306080), whose use note reads: "Some records in this series may be subject to copyright restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine the copyright holder and arrange for permission to reproduce the items, if necessary." The item record reads "Use Restriction: Unrestricted." Berryman was a newspaper cartoonist, not a federal employee, so 17 U.S.C. § 105 is not the basis. The catalog dates the drawing 17 March 1922. A work published in the United States in 1930 or earlier is in the public domain there, and an unpublished work by an author who died in 1949, as Berryman did, passed out of copyright at the end of 2019; on either footing, and on the item-level "Unrestricted" mark, a copy is stored here.
The catalog title is “St. Patrick!!”, local identifier O-024, dated 17 March 1922. Mr. D.C., in a tricorn hat marked “D.C.,” recoils as snakes coil around his cane, his legs and his arm and lie on the grass. The snakes are labelled “POISON LIQUOR,” “BOOTLEGGER” and “BOOKMAKER.” The caption on the drawing reads “ST PATRICK!!!”
The National Archives note says the snakes stand for “major problems Prohibition cause Washington,” that poison liquor and bootlegging “were a direct result of the 18th Amendment,” and that Mr. D.C. could use St. Patrick’s secrets “to rid the District of Columbia of its problems.” Those readings are the note’s.
The drawing is an editorial cartoon of 1922 and is cited as such.