John Churchill Chase was a cartoonist and writer. He was known for his editorial cartoons and his works on the history of his native New Orleans and Louisiana in the United States.

He is the author of the book, Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children and Other Streets of New Orleans. This book went through several popular editions from the 1960s through 1997, and has gone on to be widely acclaimed as a great chronicling of the history of New Orleans through the naming of its streets.

Chase's other works include the book Louisiana Purchase: an American Story.

He was long a cartoonist for the newspaper The States-Item, in addition to doing editorial cartoons on television on WDSU during the 1960s. He did a mural depicting the history of New Orleans in cartoons for the main branch of the New Orleans Public Library.

Chase taught New Orleans history at Tulane University and cartooning at the University of New Orleans.

A small street in the New Orleans Central Business District was named "John Churchill Chase" after his death. This was a section of street formerlly named Calliope (one of a series of streets in the area named after the Muses). This street runs perpendicular to the Mississippi River, through the New Orleans Warehouse District, about two blocks downriver (North, at this point) from the Crescent City Connection Bridge.

Works (selected)

Chase, John Churchill. Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children and Other Streets of New Orleans, 1st ed. New Orleans: Crager, 1949.

After the school colors (Columbia blue, scarlet red, and white) and the Raider mascot were established, the school commissioned famed New Orleans artist John Chase to sketch the then unnamed Archbishop Rummel Raider. But, in 1966, the Raiders were participants in a District Track meet when Ms. John Cressend, the mother of a senior track team member, suggested her son's name, Rufus, as an appropriate mascot name to then principal Brother John Fairfax, FSC. Brother John told Ms. Cressend that if her son won his upcoming mile race, the name of Archbishop Rummel's mascot would be "Rufus." Sporting a broken arm, senior Rufus Cressend won his race and the school's new mascot has been called "Rufus" ever since.

In 1978 the Archbishop Rummel student body had an election to name Rufus' horse. After reviewing hundreds of names, the students finally selected "Rumpus" as the name of Rufus' horse. The nickname "Super Ants" is sometimes associated with Archbishop Rummel Raider football. This nickname dates back to 1972 when a tiny group of Raiders defeated a heavily favored Chalmette Owl team by a 3-0 score. The Owl coach said at the time that the Raider defense was so thorough that it was like stepping into an ant pile.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbishop_Rummel_High_School