Should Thomas Nast Be on NJ Hall of Fame Ballot?

Thomas Nast's influences still ripple throughout the American consciousness, over a century after he called Morristown home.

He brought us the iconic donkey and elephant images our two main political parties still identify with. He brought us our modern interpretation of Santa Claus. That finger-pointing Uncle Sam is his, too.

But, as this comment, from Patch reader Declan Kane notes, not everyone is in love with Thomas Nast:

"Nice glossy view of Morristown's own raging anti-Irish and anti-Catholic bigot! You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig."

That was in response to , when opened its "Original Thomas Nast" exhibit.

If Kane is reading now, we'd be interested to hear his opinion now that Thomas Nast has been put on the ballot for the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Announced last week, and already covered in multple news outlets, including Daily Record and Wall Street Journal, those opposing the nomination cite the previously-mentioned accounts of the cartoonist's anti-Irish and Catholic sentiments. Others, like NJ Hall of Fame head Don Jay Smith, say it is unfair to try and compare current beliefs with those held in the mid-1800s. In the Daily Record article, Smith cites Pres. Woodrow Wilson, a segregationist, who a few years ago was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Which brings us to our "Question of the Day:" Should Thomas Nast be allowed to remain in the NJ Hall of Fame? Do his positives outweigh any potential negatives? Or, should he be held accountable for what some have said is inexusable bigotry? Chime in below.