Thursday, February 02, 2012
Ink-Slinger Profiles: Mel Tapley
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| Tapley editorial cartoon, February 1944 |
In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, the Tapley family of three lived in Cortlandt, New York at 1105 Park Street. His parents were Harry, a chauffeur, and Louise, and his age was recorded as nine months, which would make his birth in 1919.
In 1930 he lived at the same street address but in Peekskill Village of Cortlandt Town. His age was recorded as 11. His brother's age was a year-and-a-half. The New York Age (New York) published news from surrounding cities on May 16, 1936:
Tarrytown, N.Y.
…at the annual Elks Oratorical Contest held at the A.M.E, Zion Church under auspices of the education committee of Westchester Lodge, No. 116 and Sleepy Hollow Temple, No. 58, I.B.P.O.E. of W….Second prize was awarded to Melvin Tapley of Peekskill whose subject was "Booker T. Washington and the Constitution."
Pioneering Cartoonists of Color said Tapley "won a scholarship to [the] Art Students League [and] earned a bachelor’s from the New York University and an M.A. from Columbia." The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists said "Tapley started at the [New York] Amsterdam [News] in 1942 drawing "The Brown Family" as his first assignment. He later he took over "Jim Steele" in 1943, and drew editorial cartoons in late 1940s." He also created the strip, Breezy, which was about teenagers. Both strips appeared in The Plaindealer (Kansas City, Kansas) in 1943. The Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 3, Part 1B, Number 1, Pamphlets, Serials and Contributions to Periodicals, January-June 1949 has this entry on page 308:
TAPLEY, MELVIN STANTON ©.
Breezy, by Tap Melvin [pseud.] [Comic strip] (In Afro-American, Baltimore, Mar. 6, 1948, p. M-14) © 3Mar48; B5-8452.
Pioneering Cartoonists of Color said he also used the pseudonyms T. Melvin and Stann Pat. Peekskill's African American History: A Hudson Valley Community's Untold Story (2008) said
Melvin S. Tapley (PHS [Peekskill High School] Class of 1935) distinguished himself as an accomplished editor, artist and pioneer cartoonist as arts and entertainment editor of the Amsterdam News in New York City until his retirement in 1997. Mr. Tapley was president of the local NAACP chapter for eleven years until he resigned in 1968.
Tapley passed away on February 8, 2005. The Journal News (White Plains, New York) published an obituary on February 10.
Melvin S. Tapley, of Peekskill, N.Y., died Tuesday, February 8, 2005 at Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, N.Y. after a long illness. He is survived by his devoted daughter, Allison Tapley-Thompson, dear granddaughter, Imani Thompson, brother Dr. Harold L. Tapley, nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and friends. Viewing Services will be Friday, February 11, 2005, 11 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, 11 Rev. G. Franklin Wiggins Plaza, Peekskill, N.Y., where family will receive friends and where Funeral Services will be held Saturday, February 12, 2005 at 9:30 am. Interment, Hillside Cemetery, Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
