Mel Bolden; Democratic Politician, Artist

Mel Bolden, 81, a Democratic politician and artist who illustrated a whimsical guide to the New Hampshire presidential primary. Born in Baltimore, Bolden was the son of a pressman for black newspapers. He attended Philadelphia College of Art and spent a decade in New York as a freelance illustrator before moving to New Hampshire in the late 1950s. In the 1960s, Bolden was elected Democratic Party chairman for New Hampshire’s Merrimack County, becoming the only black Democratic county chairman in the country at the time. He served on the state’s Commission for Human Rights, designed campaign posters for former New Hampshire Gov. Hugh Gallen, and once designed a Christmas card for President Jimmy Carter. In 1984, Bolden illustrated a whimsical presidential primary guide written by Associated Press reporter David Tirrell-Wysocki. Bolden was also known for his paintings of Christa McAuliffe, the Concord, N.H., teacher killed in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion. His death was disclosed Monday in Concord, N.H.