Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Poster depicting the Statue of Liberty and the flags of 30 of the first 31 (Iraq’s flag is not pictured) countries who had declared war on the Axis Powers, and signed the Declaration by the United Nations (an alternate term to describe the Allied Powers). The Declaration pledged the signatories to employ their full resources to the war effort, and prevented them from making a separate peace. The poster was designed by Steve Broder, a Canadian artist working in the United States. The need to manage information about the war on the home front led to the establishment of the OWI in June 1942. This office controlled the design and distribution of war information to the American public in print, radio, and film media. The OWI commissioned work from leading artists to create posters to inspire and instill confidence and patriotism in the American public. The OWI also ran information campaigns for civilian agencies, War Bond drives, and campaigns to ramp up economic production for the war effort. New posters were distributed every two weeks, with the stated goal of placing posters in every city and town in the United States.
- Artwork Title
- The United Nations Fight For Freedom
- Date
-
publication/distribution:
1942
- Geography
-
publication:
Washington (D.C.)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection. The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Crown Family.
- Markings
- front, top, printed, white : THE UNITED NATIONS FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
front, bottom center, printed, black ink : OWI Poster No. 19. Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C.
front, bottom right corner, printed, black ink : ✩ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1942 – O - 498304 - Signature
- front, bottom, printed, white: BRODER
- Contributor
-
Artist:
Steve Broder
Printer: United States Government Printing Office
Distributor: United States Office of War Information
Subject: Steve Broder
- Biography
-
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)
- Genre/Form
- War posters.
- Physical Description
- Large, rectangular poster printed on off-white paper, featuring an image of the etched head and raised, torch-bearing arm of the Statue of Liberty. To the right are nine rows of 30 national flags with each nation’s name under their respective flag. The first row features the four main Allied nations: the United States, Great Britain, Soviet Russia, and China. The remaining rows feature the nations of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, The Philippines, Poland, South Africa, and Yugoslavia. The background of the poster is black and at the top is a line of white text. A line of small, black text is printed along the bottom center and right margin. The paper has a long, centered, vertical crease and three evenly spaced horizontal creases. The lower, left, back corner has some small stains.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 28.000 inches (71.12 cm) | Width: 22.000 inches (55.88 cm)
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Flags--Posters. Statue of Liberty (New York, N.Y.) in art. Statue of Liberty (New York, N.Y.)--Pictorial works. United Nations--Pictorial works. World War, 1939-1945--United States--War Posters. Executive departments
- Geographic Name
- United States.
- Personal Name
- Broder, S.
- Corporate Name
- United States. Office of War Information United Nations
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
The acquisition of this artifact was made possible by the Crown Family.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-28 07:50:47
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn552834
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Also in War propaganda posters and ephemera collection
The collection consists of two posters and a full page advertisement produced in the United States during World War II.
Date: 1942-1945
US Buy War Bonds poster depicting the Statue of Liberty
Object
American war bond poster printed in 1945, featuring a clenched fist holding war bonds, superimposed in front of the Statue of Liberty’s arm and torch. The symbolism of the image implies that purchasing war bonds was a way the public could support and protect American liberty, represented by the Statue of Liberty’s torch, which is also the lone light in the night sky. The United States Government offered the public the opportunity to purchase war bonds, and return them for reimbursement at a later date. Purchasing bonds was considered patriotic and an investment in victory, and U.S. posters levied patriotic themes and appeals to emotion to garner support. The advertisement posters for war bonds were issued by the United States Treasury Department to encourage the purchase of war bonds and war stamps. There were eight war-loan drives conducted from 1942 to 1945. The public could purchase a $25 war bond for $18.75, which would be used to help finance the war effort. The war bond could be redeemed 10 years after the purchase for the full $25. Bond quotas were set up on the national, state, county, and town levels to encourage the sale of war bonds. Volunteers went door-to-door to sell war bonds. By the end of the war, 85 million Americans had purchased over $185 billion in war bonds.