Folly or saintliness. Ethel Reed. 1895. Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZC4-3068. bibliographic record

The division's Artist Posters series (85,000 posters; mid-1800s-present) highlights the work of poster artists from the United States and elsewhere, including the nineteenth-century work of Ethel Reed (b. 1874) and Blanche McManus (b. 1869) and sprinklings of later work by Jessie Willcox Smith (1863-1935), Anna Milo Upjohn (1869-1951), Neysa McMein (1890-1949), Florence Lundborg (1871-1945), Dorothy Waugh (b. 1896), and Martha Sawyers (b. 1902).⁵ Posters created in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s by Muriel Cooper (1924-1994), Jacqueline Casey (b. 1927), and April Greiman (b. 1948) help bring the collection up to date.

Comprising some of the outstanding pieces of poster design from the efflorescence of the medium in the 1890s to more contemporary works, the collection also provides a cross-section of design conventions used in posters produced to advertise everything from laundry soap to labor organizing and from radiators to reading.

Searching the Collection

Many posters for which copy negatives or transparencies exist can be searched in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. The collection has its own listing in the online catalog (Posters: Artist posters). Digitized images generally accompany the records.

Building for health Bureau of Social Education Y. M. C. A. Marie D. Page. 1918. Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZC4-5554. bibliographic record

For posters not represented online, onsite researchers can consult the following.

• A card index organized by country, provides access to artists' names.
• A supplementary card index provides access to many of the posters by their promotional goal, although considerable browsing may be required to determine which campaigns related to women's concerns or portrayed women.
• As an aid to browsing, a microfilm made in 1973 reproduces the posters in order by designer.

Go to the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)