2. Some of the United States’ most iconic images emerged from the
propaganda posters created during World War I (1914 -1918). All
posters printed by the United States government were produced for
free and distributed on demand. James Montgomery Flagg’s I Want You
for the US Army poster was requested so often it is estimated that
more than four million copies were printed and distributed .
To rally citizen support for the United States’ entry and later
participation in World War I, President Woodrow Wilson created the
Committee on Public Information (CPI). The CPI used
newsprint, posters, radio, movies, and any other media available at the
time. George Creel, the chairman of the CPI, recruited Charles Dana
Gibson to head the Division of Pictorial Publicity. As an illustrator
himself, Gibson recruited some of the country’s most famous
illustrators to create images for posters.
Using symbols familiar to the American public such as Uncle
Sam, Columbia, the Christy girl, and the doughboy, famous artists from
the time created images recognizable even today, 100 years later.
3. In 1917, as the United States mobilized for war, the American Library
Association (ALA) identified a need for libraries on training bases. The
ALA established the Library War Service program to provide reading
materials to American soldiers. By the beginning of 1918, the Library
War Service had raised enough money to construct 32 camp libraries.
To fill these libraries, the ALA held three book drives; one in September
1917, one in March 1918, and one in January 1919. National press
coverage for the Library War Service’s efforts was extensive. Several
images were created specifically for ALA posters and book plates.
As the U.S. sent more soldiers overseas, the Library War Service went
with them. The ALA established central library offices in Europe
through which they provided troops with reading materials. The Library
War Service established the American Library in Paris and the basis for
loaning materials through the mail. Libraries established by the Library
War Service also offered classes and reading lists.
At the close of the war, the ALA transferred control of the libraries to
the military and any surplus books were transferred to libraries in
need. The ALA used the success of the Library War Service to promote
continued use of public libraries by returning soldiers.
4. CHRISTY GIRL
Born in Progressive Era United States, the “Christy Girl” represented
the ideal “New Woman” at the turn of the twentieth century. With
industrialization and consumerism for parents, the “Christy Girl”
archetype was inherently patriotic. She first appeared in advertising
campaigns which ran in newly invented mass circulating magazines.
She was young, white, middle class, educated and a benchmark of
style. Caught somewhere between a child and a woman, she flirted
with her admirers and delayed marriage into her early twenties. The
envy of older women, she was healthful, fun, and alluring. Free to
express herself, she was both suggestive and pure.
At the end of the nineteenth century, young women in the United States
began to enjoy greater access to education. In response to the chaste
ideal of the previous generation, more women began to express their
own sexuality. They began to see themselves as equals in their
relationships with men. More women became
suffragists, feminists, reformers, and professionals than ever before.
5. COLUMBIA
During World War I (1914-1918), half a Established in 1915 as the American
million immigrants of forty-six different Committee for Armenian and Syrian
nationalities were drafted into U.S. Relief, the American Committee for Relief
military service. Many of these in the Near East raised funds and
immigrants came from areas controlled supported aid to peoples devastated by the
by the Central Powers. Over eighteen conflicts in the Ottoman Empire
percent of U.S. soldiers were foreign before, during, and briefly after World War
born, and thousands of first-generation I (1914-1918). By 1923, between 1 million
Americans served in the military. The and 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were
government worked to counteract nativist killed by the Ottomans.
sentiment toward non-English speaking
soldiers.
The Mayor’s Committee on National
Defense was a mostly volunteer
Prior to the Nazi party’s official adoption of organization whose mission was to aid the
the symbol in 1920, the swastika was city of New York in any war related
widely used by nearly all cultures in the activities. The committee had bureaus and
world. Swastika, a Sanskrit word, literally subcommittees related to everything from
translates as “good to be”. The symbol was nationalism, sanitation, and labor. These
often used to mean good luck or, as is the subcommittees worked to recruit
case with this poster, success. soldiers, help returning soldiers find
work, find ways to entertain soldiers
temporarily stationed in the city, and
promote the war effort.
6. DOUGHBOYS
Born in California, Victor Clyde Forsythe studied at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design
and the Art Student League in New York. While studying at the Art Student League, Forsythe
worked for the New York Journal. After some success, he was recruited by William Randolf
Hearst as cartoonist for the New York American. While working for the New York
American, Forsythe befriended a younger Norman Rockwell and introduced him to the
Saturday Evening Post. Although Forsythe had a successful career creating comics, in
1920, he retired and moved west. Forsythe spent the rest of his life as a desert painter.
Sidney Riesenberg was born in Chicago, IL to Wilhelm Henrich Riesenberg, a German immigrant
and his wife Emily Schorb. Both of Riesenberg’s parents worked for Chicago newspapers and his
elder brother, Felix Riesenberg, grew up to be a famous explorer and author. Riesenberg studied
at the Art Institute of Chicago before moving to New York. In New York, he worked for the
Hudson River Museum of Art and taught art classes at the Westchester Arts Association. His
illustrations were published in People’s Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, Harper’s
Weekly, and Boy’s Life. Riesenberg also illustrated books and created paintings of western
themes.
