Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Four Freedoms war bonds poster featuring a Norman Rockwell painting of people praying as a symbol of the Freedom of Worship for which we were fighting the war. Some people carry symbols of their faiths: a girl with prayer beads, an old woman with her palms pressed together, and a man in a yarmulke. At the top is the phrase: "Each according to the dictates of his own conscience." It is one of a series of four posters (1988.42.1,3,4) using Rockwell's paintings, inspired by the Four Freedoms described in Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. The US entered the war in December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Office of War Information (OWI) was set up in June 1942 to control the message and imagery of government information about the war. Rockwell created a sketches about the Four Freedoms to help the war effort, but no one in Washington was interested. The paintings were published by the Saturday Evening Post beginning February 26, 1943 and then reprinted, with permission, by the OWI. The OWI launched a nationwide tour with the paintings, raising $130 million dollars in war bond sales. They also offered the posters for sale in three different sizes and four million sets of the posters were printed.
- Artwork Title
- Save Freedom of Worship - Buy War Bonds
- Series Title
- OWI poster, no. 43
Buy War Bonds - Date
-
publication/distribution:
1943
- Geography
-
publication:
Washington (D.C.)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
- Markings
- front, top, black ink : SAVE FREEDOM OF WORSHIP
front, bottom, black ink : BUY WAR BONDS
front, bottom, black ink : Painting from the Saturday Evening Post
front, bottom, black ink : OWI Poster No. 43. Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C. / U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1943 – O - 510256 - Contributor
-
Artist:
Norman Rockwell
Printer: United States Government Printing Office
Distributor: United States Office of War Information
- Biography
-
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) was born in New York City, New York. He studied art at The New York School of Art, The National Academy of Design and The Art Students League. While still a teenager, he was hired as art director of Boys’ Life, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, and began a freelance career illustrating a variety of young people’s publications. Throughout his career Rockwell created covers for The Saturday Evening Post. In 1930, he married Mary Barstow, a schoolteacher, and they had three sons. In 1939, Rockwell and his family moved to Arlington, Vermont. In 1943, he painted the Four Freedoms, a series of four paintings based on a speech by President Franklin Roosevelt. The paintings toured the United States in a traveling exhibition and through the sale of war bonds, raised over $130 million for the war effort.
The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was created on June 13, 1942, to centralize and control the content and production of government information and propaganda about the war. It coordinated the release of war news for domestic use, and using posters along with radio broadcasts, worked to promote patriotism, warn about foreign spies, and recruit women into war work. The office also established an overseas branch, which launched a large-scale information and propaganda campaign abroad. The government appealed to the public through popular culture and more than a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of advertising was donated during the first three years of the National Defense Savings Program. Victory in Europe was declared on May 8, 1945, and in Japan on September 2, 1945. The OWI ceased operation in September.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Classification
-
Posters
- Category
-
War propaganda
- Object Type
-
Posters, American (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Color offset lithographic poster reproducing a painting with close-up facial portraits of 8 men and women of various ages and ethnicities, most with their hands clasped before them in prayer. Some display symbols of their faith, such as a young woman with prayer beads and a man with a black yarmulke and Pentateuch. The picture is shaded with a soft, but bright, revealing light. Across the top of the image is the phrase : "EACH ACCORDING TO THE DICTATES OF HIS OWN CONSCIENCE." The artists's name, Norman Rockwell, is printed in the bottom left corner of the painting.
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Freedom of religion--United States--Posters. Savings bonds--United States--Posters. War bonds--United States--Posters. War posters, American. World War, 1939-1945--Finance--United States--Posters. World War, 1939-1945--Economic aspects--United States--Posters. World War, 1939-1945--United States--Posters.
- Geographic Name
- United States--Social life and customs--1918-1945--Posters.
- Personal Name
- Rockwell, Norman, 1894-1978.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-10-03 12:04:03
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn546986
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Also in Four Freedoms poster collection
The collection consist of four United States World War II war bonds posters featuring paintings by Norman Rockwell inspired by Roosevelt's Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
Date: 1943
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Object
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US war bonds poster with Rockwell painting of Thanksgiving dinner to promote freedom from want
Object
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US war bonds poster of a Rockwell painting depicting a couple checking on their sleeping children
Object
Four Freedoms war bonds poster featuring an image designed by Norman Rockwell in 1943. The poster shows a couple checking on their sleeping children, symbolizing the freedom from fear. It is one of a four-poster series using Rockwell's paintings, which were inspired by President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms. He described these in his 1941 State of the Union Address (also called the Four Freedoms Speech): freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. The United States entered World War II in December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Office of War Information (OWI) was established in June 1942, to control the message and imagery of government information about the war. This office controlled the design and distribution of war information to the American public in print, radio, and film media, and commissioned work from leading artists. Rockwell created a series of sketches about the Four Freedoms to support the war effort, but no one in Washington was interested in using them initially. The paintings were later published by the Saturday Evening Post beginning on February 26, 1943, and then reprinted, with permission, by the OWI. The OWI launched a nationwide tour with the paintings, raising $130 million dollars in war bond sales. They also offered the posters for sale in three different sizes, and four million sets of the posters were printed.
