Harry Katz

Author and curator Harry L. Katz explores American history through fine, popular, and documentary works of art. A former head curator in the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress, he gathers original historical photographs, prints, drawings, cartoons and caricatures, postcards, and posters, bringing the past to vivid life. At the Library of Congress Katz produced numerous exhibitions on art, politics, and history, and led the initiative to gather images related to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. His work has been featured in Smithsonian and National Geographic magazines. An experienced presenter, his talks are visually stunning and intellectually stimulating, offering fresh material and a new perspective.

His most recent book, Civil War Sketch Book: Drawings from the Battlefront (W.W. Norton, 2012), offers eyewitness drawings of combat and camp life produced by the sketch artists who drew the war for the illustrated press. The book changes our view of the war based on photographs and popular prints, and it represents the first major survey of Civil War battle sketches in fifty years, including landmark works by such leading Village Voice artists as Winslow Homer, Alfred Waud, Frank Vizetelly, and Edwin Forbes.

Harry Katz is the editor of Baseball Americana (HarperCollins/Smithsonian Institution Press, 2009), a cogent and comprehensive pictorial history of the sport from its origins in the 18th century. Sports Illustrated called it a "treasure trove," and The New York Times named the book to its annual 12 Best Gift Books List. He also edited Herblock (W. W. Norton, 2009), a look back at the life and work of legendary Washington Post editorial cartoonist Herbert Block, offering hundreds of classic Herblock cartoons along with commentary by Pulitzer Prize-winning political writer Haynes Johnson. The New York Times included Herblock on its annual 12 Best Gift Books List while the Village Voice called it one of the best cartoon books of the year. Cartoon America (Harry N. Abrams, 2006) features hundreds of rare and unique works of original cartoon art. John Updike, Ed Sorel, David Levine, Art Spiegelman, and Roz Chast are among the essayists revealing their fascination and engagement with the history of American cartooning. Cartoon America was nominated for Will Eisner and Harvey Awards, the comic industry’s two most prestigious publishing prizes.