The papers of Dave Breger (1908-1970) span the years 1915-2020, with the bulk of the material dating from 1927 to 1972. The collection documents Breger’s career as a cartoonist and his military service during World War II.

Breger’s cartoon Private Breger and his comic strip G.I. Joe were inspired by his experiences in the United States Army and both featured a soldier protagonist that resembled the artist himself. The majority of the diaries in the collection describe Breger’s work on these two series as well as his social activities while stationed in London from 1942 to 1944. The correspondence contains letters from several United States Army generals, including Omar Nelson Bradley, Ira Eaker, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and George S. Patton. Many of these letters thank Breger for sending the recipient an original drawing or an autographed book during World War II. Also present are several letters from Mary Soames, Winston Churchill’s daughter, who became friends with Breger during his time in London. Condolence letters received after Breger’s death make up the bulk of the postwar correspondence. Additional items in the collection include a cloth doll of Breger’s Private Breger/G.I. Joe character, Breger’s military dog tags, a scrapbook, a set of Private Breger postcards, and an embroidered valentine Breger sent to his wife Dorathy.

The digital files were compiled by the donor, Harry Breger, and include scans of photographs, scrapbook pages, genealogical material, and cartoons by Breger. Many of these items are not present in the physical portion of the collection. The digital files include more examples of Breger’s early work, such as his drawings for Northwestern University’s Purple Parrot humor magazine and his freelance cartoons from 1937 to 1940. Additionally, the digital files contain audio recordings of Breger’s daughter, Dee Breger, and her professional colleagues Marie Tharp and Enrico Bonatti. In these recordings, Tharp discusses her career as a geologist and oceanographic cartographer at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.