Hon. William H. Hastie - Champion of Justice is a 1943 Office of War Information cartoon panel by Charles Alston. A large portrait of Hastie sits beside scenes of a courtroom, a medal presentation and a man with a briefcase, and the captions list his offices up to the 1942 Spingarn Medal (NAID 535685).
A career set out as a list
Charles Alston drew this panel for the Office of War Information, and he built most of it from a résumé. A large portrait of William H. Hastie dominates. Panels, in the archive's description, show a courtroom, a medal being presented, and a man carrying a briefcase. The captions do the rest.
HON. WILLIAM H. HASTIE
CHAMPION OF JUSTICE
Judge Hastie was the first Negro to serve as justice of the U.S. District Court. He served in the Virgin Islands.
Serious, progressive, Judge Hastie typifies the new leadership. -- Despite his youth, his record of achievement is notable: -- Phi Beta Kappa at Amherst, - Doctor of Juridical Science, Harvard, - Assistant Solicitor, Department of the Interior, - Dean of the Law School, Howard University, - U.S. District Judge, Virgin Islands, - Civilian Aide to the Secretary of War, -- and Spingarn Medalist!!
In recognition of his distinguished career as jurist, and uncompromising fighter for the rights of his people, Judge Hastie was awarded the Spingarn Medal for 1942.
Alston OWI
Four posts and a medal
The middle caption counts off an honor society, a doctorate, four posts, and the medal. Three of the posts are federal: Assistant Solicitor in the Department of the Interior, district judge in the Virgin Islands, and Civilian Aide to the Secretary of War. A government office is praising a man who served in the government, and the archive tags testimonial and glittering generalities for the superlatives, "champion" and "uncompromising fighter."
The praise rests on the panel's own evidence. Each claim is a school, a degree, an office or an award, the kind of fact a reader could check. The record's purpose field reads "Persuade or win support," and its themes include race and ethnicity.
The line that admits the problem
The last caption is the most revealing. It honors Hastie as a fighter "for the rights of his people," which concedes, in a federal office's own drawing, that those rights still had to be fought for in 1943. The panel does not say who stood in the way, and a reader is left to ask.
Two other Alston profile panels on this site are Paul Robeson - Actor, Artist, Athlete and Bessye J. Bearden - Club Woman, Social Worker. His editorial cartoon A Second Emancipation Proclamation!! takes up the Atlantic Charter. The Office of War Information hub covers the agency.
Sources
- FRAME object record, Hon. William H. Hastie - Champion of Justice, 1943. Office of War Information, cartoon artwork, artist Charles Alston.
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 208, OWI Cartoon Artworks and Mockups (series NAID 535594), item 208-COM-222, NAID 535685, retrieved by the archive 3 October 2026. Rights as recorded: public domain (U.S. government work).
