Morris County - Morristown - Exhibits at Macculloch Hall



Exhibits at Macculloch Hall

Bringing Down the Boss: Thomas Nast Takes on Tweed and Tammany Hall
July 15, 2018-January 2019

Includes children’s exhibition, To Catch a Thief.
Thomas Nast (1840-1902) carried out a relentless campaign against the corruption of the Tammany Ring of New York beginning in 1871. Nast focused on William Magear Tweed (1823-1878), boss of New York City’s Tammany Hall, who had worked his way up from ward politician to become the top power broker in the city and state of New York. As head of the city’s Commission of Public Works, Boss Tweed handed out lucrative contracts to his cronies who then “kicked back” money to the Ring. Tweed defrauded the City of New York of millions dollars from 1865-1871, emptied the treasury and added millions of dollars to the public debt. Appointing his Tammany Hall associates to key public offices, Tweed kept his fraudulent activities quiet… for a time.
Nast was barely 30 years old when he learned of the Tammany Ring’s activities. The young, idealistic cartoonist attacked the corruption through vivid caricatures of Boss Tweed and members of the Ring. Nast’s cartoons enraged Tweed. Most of his constituents could not read the damning published reports, but they could see “them damn pictures!”
In 1873, the New-York Times reported that Tweed’s cronies tried to bribe Nast to stop him from publishing, offering him money to “go to Europe for three years for his health”. Nast laughingly turned down the offer, but the very real threats resulted in Nast’s move to Macculloch Avenue in Morristown to insure his family’s safety. Ultimately all the members of the Ring were tried, but Tweed escaped to Cuba and Spain, where he was recognized because of a Nast cartoon. Tweed was extradited to the United States and imprisoned. He died in the Ludlow Street Jail in New York City in 1878.

Now Showing in Our Upstairs Gallery



Museum Hours

Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday
1:00-4:00pm. Group tours welcome by appointment Sunday-Friday.

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