He Ain't Heavy, He's my Brother Father Edward J. Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town, came across a line drawing in the Christmas 1941 edition of the Louis Allis Messenger, a company publication. The "Two Brothers" line drawing of a young boy carrying his brother featured on Page 44, in gold & black ink. The caption read "He ain't heavy Mister - he's m' brother!" It was created by Mr. Van B. Hooper who later became the editor of Ideals Magazine. The drawing was subsequently repeated in the first issue of Ideals in December of 1944. from Wikipedia
The Girls and Boys Town website recounts the subsequent story: "Over the years, Father Flanagan had seen numerous examples of boys helping each other in a fashion similar to the one depicted in the publication. He thought the drawing would be a perfect example to illustrate the work done at Girls and Boys Town. Father Flanagan contacted the company in August of 1943 for permission to reproduce the two boys in full color and to change the caption to 'He ain't heavy, Father . . . he's m' brother.'" Consequently, the phrase became the motto of what was then known as Boys Town, now Girls and Boys Town, and the image became the universal, enduring image of the organization. 
Founded by Father Edward Flanagan in 1917, Boys Town has a 90 year history of saving children and healing families. What began as a small home for homeless boys has grown into a nationwide organization with sites in a dozen states and the District of Columbia, providing more than 51,000 children each year with a safe, caring, loving environment where they gain confidence to get better. http://www.boystown.org/aboutus/history/index.asp 
Soon, Hollywood became interested in the success surrounding Boys Town. Two motion pictures were filmed, the first in 1938. The Oscar-winning movie “Boys Town” starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney, dramatized the efforts being made to recover “lost” boys under Father Flanagan’s guidance. Tracy won an Oscar for his role as Father Flanagan. He donated the statue to Boys Town, where it remains on display today. Spenser Tracy plays Father Flanagen http://www.boystownmovie.org/The story of Father Flanagan was told in the 1938 movie Boys Town starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney .
