Civil War
Mobilizing the Masses: World War II Posters
Presented by:
Jay Antle
Publish Date:
December 2007
Presentation Length:
56 minutes 23 seconds (56:23)
Description:
Jay Antle, assistant professor in the Department of History at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas, speaks about the use of posters to rally public support during World War II. In the name of patriotism, colorful posters were produced by the U.S. government encouraging all Americans to do their part in winning the war. Promoting ideas of conservation, women workers, and war bonds, these posters were commonplace on the home front. Each one was carefully designed to convey social, economic, and political ideas through imagery. By featuring the middle class home, traditional families, and free enterprise, these posters attempted to convey a sense of urgency aimed at maintaining the idealized American way of life, and brought the war to the home front and made the war personal, serving as a visual call to arms for all Americans.
