American propaganda posters from World War I encouraged residents to do their part at home, to support troops overseas.
By Robyn Rime
The Special Collections in Milne Library range from college memorabilia to local historical documents to rare, fragile, and valuable artifacts. It’s easy to see why some of the items ended up at the College. Faculty publications, decades of old yearbooks and campus newspapers, and posters from SUNY Geneseo events in years past all populate the College Archives. Papers and photos from the Genesee Valley and its first settlers, the Wadsworth family, span more than 150 years of the region’s history. But other items are puzzling, their provenance less directly tied to the College. In this ongoing feature, the Scene will highlight some of the unusual, intriguing, and often unique objects in Geneseo’s Special Collections.
World War I Posters, ca. 1918
The Special Collections archive contains a large portfolio of about 75 American propaganda posters from World War I. Of unknown provenance, the posters were clearly used and not just kept as mementoes—many are tattered, and most show tack holes in their corners. It’s likely they were mounted in window displays or bulletin boards in public places or offices, such as libraries or stores. Most come from national service and support organizations: the YMCA, Salvation Army, Red Cross, and others.
Interestingly, the posters in this collection weren’t used for military recruitment. Unlike the well-known Uncle Sam “I Want You” image, the messages on these posters all spoke to a home front audience, exhorting them to raise money, conserve food, and support the war effort. Many encouraged people to buy bonds or raise funds to provide entertainment for the troops. The American Library Association encouraged sending books abroad, and the YWCA reminded Americans that women were serving overseas as well. The US Food Administration cautioned against wasting food—especially wheat, meat, fats, and sugars—and encouraged even children to eat more American-grown corn-based products.
Although the posters did not actively recruit, American troops appeared regularly in the images, and the tone of the messages was often somber. Several displayed injured soldiers, malnourished French children, or a grim list of battlefields, and one fundraising poster says plainly, “You who are not called upon to die—Invest.”
View more posters from the Geneseo collection:
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