Propaganda (“prop art”) posters collected by Gary Yanker form the Yanker Poster Collection (3,500 posters, 1927-80; bulk 1965-80).

If Union families don't look for the union label, who will? International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Between 1965 and 1980. Prints and Photographs Division. With permission of UNITE. LC-USZC4-8146. full caption | bibliographic record

Nearly half of the Yanker posters were produced in the United States. Reflecting a period of upheaval in American politics and society, the political and social messages frequently express the views of causes and organizations that, at least at the time, were considered radical in nature. Posters by groups that have gained prominence, such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), as well as lesser known groups such as Another Mother for Peace and East Bay Women for Peace, demonstrate women's public participation in efforts to better their own position in society and to address international social and political concerns.

Posters gathered from countries outside the United States provide a comparative glimpse of women's involvement in political movements abroad, as well as reaction to events and developments in the United States in general.

Searching the Collection

Catalog records for posters in the Yanker Poster Collection can be found in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, where the collection has its own listing (Posters: Yanker Poster Collection). Digitized images accompany the records.

Online catalog records provide access by

• names of organizations
• names of poster designers (when the designer was noted on the poster)
• subject matter

It is possible to retrieve, for instance, eighteen posters on the subject of birth control, thirty-two on the subject of sexism, eleven that reflect the organizing efforts of women garment workers, and twenty-two works of the Women's Graphics Collective.

Go to the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)