This collection documents Criner's professional and personal life as an artist and educator. The collection includes correspondence, original works of art, prints, drawings, exhibition photos, postcards, writings, photographs, publicity, news clippings, interviews with Criner, and thank you letters and cards from students and visitors who have been taught the art of printmaking and provided tours of the Museum of Printing History in Houston by Criner. The collection includes a number of Criner's prints and copies of his art reproduced as advertisements, exhibits, and prints. Of particular note are the significant examples of Criner’s various cartoons, Johnny Jones, The Job Crowd, The Dogs, and a few others. These were all produced from his stint in the Army, his work with the Houston Post, Houston Chronicle, HUD, and his collaboration with William Henry Hygh. 

A listing of Criner’s artwork and cartoons is included at the end of the finding guide. The collection includes examples of each of these works either in print, photos, or exhibit material.

Separated Items

• 3 oversized original artworks by Charles Criner
• Outsider Art: A book of postcards. Warwick, Warwickshire UK: Pomegranate Communications, Inc., 2008
• Twists & Turns: Women in the Visual and Literary Arts. Houston, TX: Members of Women in the Visual and Literary Arts, 2004
• One Flesh: A Biblical Perspective on the Permanence of Marriage by Joe Fogle. OK: Christian Mission Press, 2000
• Annesley: Touch the Fire by Robert H. Annesley. Missouri City, Texas: Robert H. Annesley, 1989
• Belly Slappers. Houston TX: MPH Printers Guild, 1999
• The Art of Mosadi’s, by Earnest W. Bonner, DVD

1: African Dancers

2: Birds of Paradise (black and white)

3: Close Encounter (color)

4: Dive in the Pea Field

5: Dive in the Pea Field (black and white)

6: Evening Harvest

7: Fishing for Crabs

8: Galveston Fireworks 1

9: Galveston fireworks 2

10: Girl and Bird

11: Hunting Poke Salad

12: Jettie Fishing

13: Juneteenth 2006

14: Lady with a Sunflower

15: Little Girl

16: Mr. Alvin White (color)

17: Myssie's Cotton

18: Papa Jack

19: Pier 5

20: Rain Cloud Coming

21: Replanting Tammy Mae

22: Rocket Man

23: Rocket Man

24: Rollover Pass

25: Sisters Working in the Field

26: Tangled Hooks

27: Underground Railroad

28: Vietnam Fisherman

29: Waiting for a Bus

30: What's Going On

31: Yams

32: Fighting the Insects

33: Young Girl

34: Getting Ready to Run

35: African Tree

36: Dancing with Butterflies

37: Demero

38: Watching Our Sons Go Back to their Cells

39: Cherry

40: Rocket Man

41: Patty Cake

42: Man with a Chicken

43: Girl Watching Her Line

44: Coming to America

45: Hunting Poke Salad

46: After the Rain

47: Birds of Paradise

48: Man Coming Out of the Water

49: Still I Rise

50: The Civil War

51: Plugging Watermelons

52: Charles Criner Cartoons:

• "Johnny Jones", created for the Armed Forces Press Services, depicts African Americans in the military
• "Johnny Jones", Houston Post, a young black male who doesn't speak, but campus life at a fictitious university is viewed by what others think, collaborated with longtime friend William Henry Hygh
• "The Job Crowd", Houston Post/Houston Chronicle, deals with job-related humor of four women and one man, Irvin

1/1: Personal Items, 1972; 2002; Undated

1/2: Personal Photographs, 1965; 2008; Undated

1/3: Artwork, Prints/Photos, 1998; 2006; Undated

1/4: Art Exhibitions, 1978; 2008

1/5: Art Miscellaneous, 2008; Undated

1/6: Art, Publicity

1/7: Cartoons, Ebony Magazine and Houston Business Journal, 1974; Undated

1/8: Correspondence, Exhibits, Contracts, and Agreements, 1971; 2008

1/9: Correspondence, 1972; 2009; Undated

1/10: Correspondence, Greeting Cards, 2006; 2008; Undated

1/11: Correspondence, Invitation, 2003; 2008; Undated

1/12: Correspondence, Thank you letters and cards, 201; 2008; Undated

1/13: Museum of Printing History, Houston, Texas, 2000-201; Undated

1/14: Financial Records, Museum of Printing History, School Traveling Show, 2003; 2007; Undated

1/15: Museum of Printing History, Information, 1998; 2008; Undated

1/16: Publications, Museum of Printing History, The Printed World, 1999; 201

1/17: Publications, MPH, 2003-2004

1/18: Research Materials, Prints, 2006; Undated

1/19: Texas Southern University, Undated

1/20: Writings, Mr. Fonzy’s Train, short story, Undated

1/21: Writings, Miscellaneous, 2000; 2008; Undated

1/22: Collected Items, 1991; 2008; Undated