Object Details
Artist
E. G. Renesch
Date
1918
Medium
Colored photolithograph
Dimensions
Image: 19 1/4 × 15 1/2 inches (48.9 × 39.4 cm)
Frame: 20 1/2 × 20 × 1 inches (52.1 × 50.8 × 2.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Wil Millard
Object
Number
2017.019
This is one of two World War I recruiting posters that were aimed specifically to encourage African (…)
This is one of two World War I recruiting posters that were aimed specifically to encourage African Americans to enlist. Here a black soldier takes his leave against a background of African American patriotism, self-sacrifice, and courage. Both posters positioned the war as an opportunity for African Americans to prove their patriotism and serve their country, a position encouraged by W. E. B. Du Bois in the pages of The Crisis, the magazine of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).More than 350,000 African Americans trained and deployed in segregated units, served in the US military during World War I, of whom 42,000 saw action in Europe. (“‘The War to End All Wars’: Artists and World War I,” curated by Nancy E. Green and presented at the Johnson Museum, January 21-June 11, 2017)
