WWI Posters Collection Finding Aid, WWI POSTERS

Historical note:

These posters are original drawings by Fred V. Owen, evidently created in North Carolina between 1917 and 1918 to encourage enlistment in the U.S. Army. Some were mailed from army recruiting offices in Greensboro and Asheville to recruiting stations in Asheville, Charlotte, and Winston-Salem, while others were apparently displayed at the post office in Durham.

Scope and Contents note:

The works appeal heavily to American patriotism and manhood, and the need to defend civilization against the threat of enemy barbarity. Constant themes are the depraved, bloody-handed German soldier, and the wicked yet cowardly Kaiser Wilhelm II, emperor of Germany. The characterization of the foe takes an extreme form in the gruesome image of the a murderous savage.

Historical note:

These posters are original drawings by T. S. Davidson, evidently created in North Carolina between 1917 and 1918 to encourage enlistment in the U.S. Army. Some were mailed from army recruiting offices in Greensboro and Asheville to recruiting stations in Raleigh and Charlotte, while others were apparently displayed at the post office in Durham.

Scope and Contents note:

These works appeal heavily to American patriotism and manhood, and the need to defend civilization against the threat of enemy barbarity. Constant themes are the depraved, bloody-handed German soldier, and the wicked yet cowardly Kaiser Wilhelm II, emperor of Germany. In its extreme form, the enemy menace is characterized as the "Hun," a murderous savage, or as a lurid beast, entirely without restraint. Uncle Sam and Marianne appear frequently as national personifications of the United States and France, respectively. The goddess Liberty, representing the two nations alternately, is another reoccurring symbol, often depicted in peril.

Historical note:

During World War I, the American Red Cross performed extensive service on the home front by aiding the needy, engaging in public health work, and helping to provide for the general welfare of military personnel in camps, cantonments, and naval bases across the nation. The organization's most significant contribution to the war effort, however, was in serving in an auxiliary capacity to the armed forces overseas, through its hospital and medical services. The Red Cross operated twenty-four hospitals in France, as well as thirteen in Britain, mostly under military authority. Nearly 20,000 Red Cross nurses served on active duty with the American Expeditionary Force, comprising over 80 percent of nurses in the U.S. Army. The Red Cross further supplemented the work of the military by organizing fifty-eight base hospitals at home and abroad and recruiting forty-seven ambulance companies for battlefield service in the army. In addition to operating twelve convalescent homes, eight infirmaries, and thirteen dispensaries for American soldiers in France, the organization also provided camp and canteen services for doughboys as well as Allied troops, often just behind the front lines. Continuing its traditional humanitarian role overseas, the Red Cross assisted refugees, children, and other victims of the war throughout Europe. Civilian relief efforts continued after the Armistice in as many as twenty-four nations.

References:

Foster Rhea Dulles, The American Red Cross: A History (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950).

The Work of the American Red Cross During the War: A Statement of Finances and Accomplishments for the Period July 1, 1917, to February 28, 1919 (Washington: American Red Cross, 1919).

Scope and Contents note:

These posters were created by the American Red Cross between 1917 and 1920, primarily to raise financial support for its service and relief work at home and abroad, and to encourage new membership. Most of the material was used to advertise the organization's two War Fund appeals (the first in 1917 and the second in 1918) and Roll Call special recruitment drives (held at Christmastime those years and continued annually thereafter), as well to promote postwar membership efforts. Also included are bulletins issued by the War Council, the organization's wartime governing body.

The works appeal heavily to American patriotism and benevolence. Romantic images of women appear frequently; in the person of the Red Cross nurse, the feminine is portrayed as an alluring figure, but also as nurturer and caregiver. Another reoccurring theme is the duty of civilians to match the sacrifice made by the nation's servicemen.

Historical note:

During World War I, a wide variety of service organizations attended to the morale, welfare, and recreational needs of America's fighting men, both at home and overseas. The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) performed the vast majority of this work among servicemen in the American Expeditionary Force, operating canteens, "huts," and post exchanges for their spiritual and physical well-being. The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) operated "hostess houses" both in the United States, where service personnel in training camps could receive visitors, and in France, offering entertainment for the troops and accommodation for women serving with the military. It also trained young women to enter the labor force as industrial, agricultural, and clerical workers, replacing men gone "over there." In November 1918, seven of the service organizations--the YMCA, YWCA, Salvation Army, National Catholic War Council (with the Knights of Columbus), Jewish Welfare Board, War Camp Community Service, and the American Library Association--combined to hold a fund drive, the United War Work Campaign, to raise $170,500,000 for the support of their efforts.

While the American Red Cross led humanitarian efforts on behalf of suffering civilians during and after the war, it was assisted by many other relief organizations. The American Committee for Relief in the Near East (later Near East Relief) assisted victims of the Armenian Genocide, while the American Jewish Relief Committee for Sufferers from the War and American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee aided Jews in Eastern Europe and the Near East.

References:

John W. Coffey II, American Posters of World War One (Williamstown, Mass.: Williams College Museum of Art, 1978). Byron Farwell, Over There: The United States in the Great War, 1917-1918 (New York: Norton, 1999). Jennifer D. Keene, World War I (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2006). Walton Rawls, Wake up America! World War I and the American Poster (New York: Abbeville Press, 1988). Robert H. Zieger, America's Great War: World War I and the American Experience (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000).

Historical note:

The U.S. Shipping Board was created as an independent agency of the executive branch by the Shipping Act of September 7, 1916 (39 Stat. 728) to encourage, develop, and create "a naval auxiliary and naval reserve and a merchant marine to meet the requirements of the commerce of the United States. The law provided for a subsidiary corporation, the Emergency Fleet Corporation, solely controlled by the Board. A law passed February 11, 1927, changed the name of the corporation to the United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation. The World War forced on the Board additional duties, "operating and maintaining a fleet of merchant vessels built or otherwise acquired by the National government for war purposes." All of the work of the Board concerned with ship operation was carried out through the Corporation. The U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation created all the posters in this series. Most of the posters in the series carry a DPP logo from the Committee on Public Information, Division of Pictorial Publicity.

Historical note:

Starting in 1917, the government of the United States instituted a series of aggressive fund-raising campaigns in support of the war. The four Liberty Loans and the Victory Liberty Loan all produced bonds redeemable for their original values plus interest. These campaigns raised nearly 30 billion dollars between 1917 and 1919. The government also used the revenues from War Savings Stamps to finance the war effort. These stamps were available in values from 10 cents to 5 dollars. Citizens, including children, bought these stamps at post offices, and affixed them savings books. When a book was full, it could be redeemed for a war bond/certificate. The Liberty Loans, Victory Liberty Loans, and War Savings Stamps were all advertised heavily on a wide variety of posters.