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In a hurry? Save or print these Collection Connections as a single file.
Go directly to the collection, By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection.
By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943,
provides many opportunities to develop historical thinking skills. The
posters in this collection can be used to create an illustrative timeline
of federal programs. The Special Presentations in this collection allow
for comprehension of the Federal Art Program's contribution to modern
art in the United States. Some posters also provide an opportunity to
assess race relations in the early-twentieth century and to discuss
whether perpetuating of racial stereotypes contributed to the internment
of Japanese Americans during World War II. Other works provide a catalyst
for researching the history of public works across the United States
and in particular communities.
Chronological Thinking Skills
This collection represents two of the most important historical events
of the early-twentieth century in the United States--the Great Depression
and World War II. Search on terms such
as Works Progress Administration and war to create
an illustrative timeline of the federal programs that were designed
to combat the nation's domestic and international enemies.
- What types of programs were introduced to address economic concerns
of the 1930s?
- How did graphic artists portray these efforts?
- What types of public actions were promoted during World War II?
- How did the efforts of the War Department compare to WPA programs?
- Based on these posters, how would you describe the atmosphere and
prevalent attitudes in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s?
Historical Comprehension: Anthony Velonis and Serigraphy
| Posters were lettered and pained
by hand prior to the 1930s. Anthony Velonis, an artist with the
Federal Art Project, learned the silkscreen process while working
in his brother's sign shop, and he transformed production methods
around 1936. The Special Presentation, "Posters for the
People," from the American Memory collection, The New Deal Stage:
Selections from the Federal Theatre Project: 1935-1939,
explains that Velonis "saw that he could adapt the industrial silk-screen
process - already used for printing commercial displays and banners
- for high-volume, multicolor poster production." |
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Anthony Velonis in 1944. |
"East side, West side Exhibition of Photographs,"
by Anthony Velonis.
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This new production technique,
along with the ambitious art direction promoted within the FAP,
allowed for greater artistic expression and experimentation in poster
design. The work of individual artists of the era is available by
browsing the collection's Creator
Index. For example, Anthony
Velonis produced nine posters, including advertisements for
the Federal Theatre Project's production of "Macbeth"
and a call for "better
public housing to reduce infant mortality."
Velonis sought to distinguish between the commercial purposes
of the silkscreen poster and artistic endeavors by coining the term,
serigraphy, to describe the process of fine-art printmaking.
Art critic Carl Zigrosser popularized the term and serigraphy later
became a popular technique among artists such as Robert Rauschenberg
and Andy Warhol. |
This collection's Special Presentation, "Posters
from the WPA: Tony Velonis" features a brief video recording
of a 1994 interview with Velonis discussing why he didn't want credit for
coining the term, serigraphy, and explaining his personal experience in
the FAP: "I couldn't imagine a better art university than the people that
came together at that time."
- How did the development of serigraphy influence the creation of posters?
- What types of fonts and images did artists employ to convey their messages?
- How do the poster styles for public services such as housing and health compare to
advertisements for performances of the Federal Theatre Project?
- How does the work in this collection compare to later serigraphs by artists such as
Rauschenberg and Warhol?
Historical Analysis and Interpretation
Historical Issue-Analysis and Decision-Making: Depictions of the Japanese in WPA Posters
and Japanese-American Internment Camps During World War II
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 galvanized the
United States to enter World War II. A search on Japanese
war produces posters promoting the effort against the Japanese.
"Careless
matches aid the Axis" depicts a glowering Japanese soldier behind
a tree while the war bond poster, "Stamp
'Em Out", features Emperor Hirohito alongside Benito Mussolini and
Adolph Hitler. Other posters in the collection, however, represented
the Japanese as animals such as the snake in "Salvage
Scrap to Blast the Jap," a rat in
"Alaska - Death-Trap for the Jap," and a Japanese submarine as a shark in
"Smoking
Stacks Attract Attacks."
As artists fought a propaganda war against the Japanese, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 forced most Japanese Americans living
on the West Coast to sell many of their possessions and to move to internment
camps under the auspices of national security. The U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that such confinement was constitutional but many government officials
believed that such camps were unnecessary and fueled doubt about the national
loyalty of all Japanese immigrants in the United States. In 1988, the
Civil Liberties Act offered a presidential apology and $20,000 in compensation
to each survivor of the internment camps. Photographs chronicling the
experience of detainees are available in the American Memory
collection, America from the Great
Depression through World War II.
- How did the war posters exaggerate physical characteristics of the
Japanese?
- How do you think that these posters might have influenced the public's
feelings about the Japanese?
- How might such feelings have affected attitudes toward Japanese
Americans?
Historical Research Capabilities
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A search on the phrase,
history of civic services, produces a series of informative
posters that chronicle the origins of New York City's public services
such as the police department, fire department, and water supply.
For example, "Police
No. 1: The Rattle Watch" describes the seventeenth-century
patrols going through the town: "On October 4, 1658 a paid Rattle
Watch of eight men to do the duty from 9 o'clock at night until
morning drum beat was established, the duty being imposed upon
each of the citizens by turns, and each householder was taxed
15 stivers for its support." The series on the water supply describes
events from the
first public well in 1658, the
tea water pump garden in 1750, and the
modern era, in which 930 million gallons are consumed daily.
These posters can be a catalyst to investigate the origins of public
services in the United States. Research projects can culminate in
the creation of posters describing local public services or commemorating
an event in a community's history
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History of Civic Services in the City of New York:
Water Supply No. 4: An Average of 930,000,000 Gallons is Consumed
Daily. |
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