Whyte, Garrett
(born: 1914 - died: 2000)Garrett Whyte was born in Louisville, KY according to his Army enlistment records--he was a World War II Army veteran. [Mt. Sterling, KY has also been given as his birth location.]
Whyte completed an art education degree at North Carolina A&T State University in 1939. He worked as an artist for the Chicago Defender, taught art at a high school, and was an art professor in the Chicago City College System [now City Colleges of Chicago]. In addition to teaching, he was an artist for a number of organizations before he retired in 1980.
Whyte is remembered for his art and for his comic strip "Mr. Jim Crow" in the Chicago Defender; the strip was one of the first Civil Rights graphic satires.
For more see J. D. Stevens, "Reflections in a dark mirror: comic strips in Black newspapers," Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 10, issue 1 (Summer 1976), pp. 239-244; and Who's Who Among African Americans, 1975-2006. For an example of the "Mr. Jim Crow" comic strip, see strippersguide.blogspot.com.